Submitted Electronically via eRulemaking Portal

Mo. Valley Waterfowlers Association wishes to request that the USFWS strongly consider allowing production states such as Iowa the ability to Conduct a Teal Only Season that provides Waterfowlers of the state the opportunity to hunt teal during their peak migration as they pass through the state. Presently the state is forced to USE 5 of it's Regular Duck Season days to provide some teal hunting opportunities. No other state in the flyway is forced to use Regular Duck season days to harvest Teal during the special Teal season period. To make matters worse Iowa's teal season catches the very end of the major blue wing teal migration. By the time the season opens we have missed the peak migration period thus miss out on a great opportunity to harvest one of North Americas most abundant waterfowl species. We do not seek the same level of early teal season days as our southern counter parts but merely ask that we be given some opportunity Early so that we have the opportunity to catch the peak migration as it happens, without it costing Iowa Regular duck season days or costing Iowa's Duck Production region valuable revenues needed to Restore duck production habitat with in the Iowa PPJV region. If you look at Iowa's teal harvest during the early season we do have that cost us 5 regular duck season days and compare the harvest to our southern counter parts during the early season opportunities they have, Iowa's harvest numbers dont even compare or come close. Not saying they should but just pointing out that the opportunity we presently have compared to others with in the flyway isnt remotely close as equal opportunity. You could even take the regular duck season harvest numbers and compile it to the early season harvest numbers of teal and the state as a whole still would fall way short of even measuring up to our southern counter parts harvest numbers of Teal Only. Iowa is at a huge disadvantage vs our southern counter parts. We hope this changes by -2014