This Update reviews six years of progress since the 2012 Revision and 2014 Addendum. It reaffirms the three core NAWMP goals — abundant and resilient waterfowl populations, sufficient wetlands and habitats, and growing numbers of hunters, viewers, and supporters — and demonstrates how the waterfowl community is integrating biological, habitat, and human-dimensions objectives.

Key highlights

• Joint Ventures developed decision-support tools and landscape-scale projects that explicitly balance waterfowl needs with public benefits (e.g., aquifer recharge, working lands, public hunting access, voter-approved wetland funding).
• Continental achievements include the 2017 NAWMP Stakeholder Surveys, Public Engagement Strategy, hunter recruitment/retention workshops, and the Future of Waterfowl II Workshop.
• Institutional review led to recommendations for stronger leadership, communication, and adaptive capacity.

Path forward

The document outlines eight recommendations to accelerate integration, leverage ecosystem services, broaden partnerships, review objectives every 10 years, and build professional capacity. It reinforces the guiding principle: “think continentally, integrate locally” to sustain waterfowl, wetlands, and public support amid changing social-ecological conditions.