In early November 1997, the number of waterfowl in the Area peaked at over 100,000 canvasbacks, scaup, ringneck ducks and tundra swans. Boaters using Lake Onalaska have been cooperative with the program as well. During the 1997 Avoidance Area time period, observers counted 766 boats on Lake Onalaska. Lake Onalaska has traditionally been one of the major stopping points for waterfowl during their migration due to its abundance of plant and animal life for waterfowl food. Large numbers of waterfowl are again expected to spend a significant period of time in Lake Onalaska since recent surveys of wildcelery and aquatic invertebrates indicated that there is abundant food available.
Waterfowl are sensitive to human activity occurring near their feeding and resting areas.
Even relatively distant boating activity may be enough to cause the birds to take flight and burn-up valuable energy reserves. Boaters who voluntarily throttle down and avoid concentrations of waterfowl, wherever they occur, will help these birds gather energy for the remainder of their long migration flight. The Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Area is cooperatively supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, UW-Extension La Crosse County, Lake Onalaska Protection and Rehabilitation District, and the La Crosse County Conservation Alliance. A leaflet describing the Voluntary Avoidance Program is available at most boat landings, local sporting shops, the Upper Mississippi Refuge, at 555 Lester Avenue, Onalaska or Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at 3550 Mormon Coulee Road, La Crosse. The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge pages are formatted for Mosasic defaults.