Grant will help with wetlands restoration at refuge

Photo by Sue Cook – This photo from a few weeks ago shows the Kanyoo Trail at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.

Press release
Ducks Unlimited

SHELBY – Ducks Unlimited has been awarded a $62,407 grant for coastal wetlands restoration work in Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. DU and their partners will enhance 1,000 acres of forested wetland through restored hydrology and reforestation.

“Iroquois has always been important to Ducks Unlimited,” said Sarah Fleming, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist. “The area is an important stop for migratory waterfowl. Reforesting provides valuable habitat, and putting in new culverts and removing portions of a dike will help this portion of the refuge function at a much higher level, providing more food and better opportunities for waterfowl on their way to the breeding grounds.”

The grant comes through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Other partners in the grant proposal include Cargill, Friends of Iroquois NWR and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Work will take place in an area known as the Seneca Pool, and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014. Almost every wildlife species uses wetlands at some point of its lifecycle, and a diverse range of wildlife species stand to benefit from the enhanced habitat, including American black duck, American woodcock and cerulean warblers.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.