By the late 1880's, unregulated hunting and destruction of woodland and wetland habitat had caused the wood duck population to decline to alarmingly low levels. By the beginning of the 20th century, wood ducks had virtually disappeared from much of their former range.

By ending unregulated hunting and taking measures to protect remaining habitat, wood duck populations began to rebound in the 1920's. The development of the artificial nesting box in the 1930's gave an additional boost to wood duck production. Wood ducks eagerly accepted boxes as suitable nesting sites, and over the years, conservation groups like EASL and individuals helped increase numbers of wood ducks by preserving habitat and erecting nest boxes. The combination of hunting restrictions and habitat conservation and management measures enabled wood duck populations to rebound enough to support conservative hunting in the 1940's. The story of the wood duck is an example of how active wildlife management techniques can have a tremendous effect on the overall success of an individual species.

For over a decade EASL has been constructing, installing and maintaining wood duck nesting boxes in Ascension parish. The main focus of the club’s efforts in recent history has been in the Spanish Lake area, however, over the years nesting boxes have been installed throughout the parish.

The purpose of the woodduck nesting box is to provide a predator proof nesting site which will increase the success rate of the wood duck hen rearing her young. Rough cedar or cypress is the preferred material of construction. A strip of hardware cloth is fastened to the inside of the box below the entrance hole, it serves as a ladder and gives the ducklings a means to escape the nesting box once they have hatched. Wood shavings are added for nesting material and the boxes are installed on metal poles with predator shields. The predator shield is a large sheet metal cone that is strapped to mounting poles below the nesting to prevent predators from climbing the poles and entering the box to destroy the wood ducks eggs. Snakes, raccoons and many other predators are a threat to the wood duck hen and her eggs as she incubates them.

Early each year maintenance is performed on the boxes, those in poor condition are repaired or replaced, the nesting material is replaced and any brush near the site that may aid a predator in entering the box is cleared. At this time the successes of the previous years nesting attempts are found, usually old eggshells are seen mixed with the wood shavings in the bottom of the box – a sign of a successful hatching.

Hundreds of wood duck nesting boxes have been constructed over the years and EASL believes that the wood duck population in Ascension parish has increased due to our efforts.