A government report issued last week says it could take 150 years and billions of dollars for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect key portions of the Prairie Pothole region to sustain current duck populations.

But the agency doesn't have that much time, or the money, to achieve its goal of protecting an additional 12 million acres in that region, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

"Some emerging market forces, however, suggest that the service may have only several decades before most of its goal acreage is converted to agricultural uses," the report states.

The 64-million-acre Prairie Pothole region, which includes portions of Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana, is the breadbasket of duck production in the United States. It provides breeding grounds for more than 60 percent of key migratory bird species.

Since the 1950s, the Fish and Wildlife Service, through its small wetlands acquisition program, has permanently protected about 3 million acres of wetlands and grasslands. But to sustain the region's current population of 4.2 million breeding duck pairs, the agency's goal is to permanently protect up to an additional 12 million acres.

The pace of protection could be increased marginally by using existing money more efficiently, but the GAO said that with only about $17 million yearly for land acquisitions, "the limited resources pose a substantial challenge."

The GAO said one way to increase the effort would be to get additional dollars. Some possibilities: Raise the cost of the federal Duck Stamp, reauthorize a new Wetlands Loan Act to borrow from future Duck Stamp sales, or get more money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which includes oil and gas lease revenues.

A copy of the GAO report is at www.startribune.com/outdoors.

Forced up a tree

A ruffed grouse hunter got a little more than he bargained for last weekend while hunting near Little Falls.

The man was hunting alone when he encountered a black bear sow and her two cubs.

"He said the mother bear was coming behind him," said Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Rob Haberman of St. Cloud. "He made some noise, but she kept coming, not aggressively, just walking [toward him.]"

So the hunter climbed a tree. As the bears came closer, he fired a shot into the air to scare them off. Instead, the two frightened cubs scampered up a tree -- right next to the hunter's. And mama bear lurked below waiting for them to descend.

It was a long wait for bear ... and hunter.

"It got dark and he could still hear the bears, so he decided not to get down," Haberman said. "He said he was up there a good two hours."

The hunter called for help with his cell phone. Three Morrison County sheriff's deputies and Haberman responded.

"It was about 8 p.m., so we stumbled our way through the woods to him," Haberman said. "When we got there, there was no bear, so he came down and we all got out of the woods."

Dedicated funding

Supporters of a constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the state sales tax for natural resources were encouraged to get assurance recently from legislative leaders that the issue will be taken up at the 2008 Legislature in February.

Last session, separate measures passed the House and Senate, and a conference committee worked out differences, but the session ended before a vote was taken.

If the Legislature approves the measure, it would be placed on the November 2008 ballot. Supporters are hoping for quick passage so they can launch a multimillion dollar campaign.

A letter signed by House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, and Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, was sent to dedicated funding supporters recently.

"House and Senate leadership have agreed to take this matter up when the 2008 legislative session convenes next February," the letter states. "Considering the bipartisan support for this bill, and the wide margin of passage in both the House and Senate, it seems clear that the legislature supports putting this constitutional amendment to a vote of the people."

Did you know?

• A painting of pheasants in snowy scenery by Nick Reitzel of Karlstad was chosen as the winning design for the 2008 pheasant habitat stamp contest.

• Those 2,000 posters the DNR printed commemorating the 30th anniversary of the state duck stamp are gone. People quickly snapped up the free posters following a story last week on Wednesday's Outdoors page.

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com