Our phase IV proposal builds on the successes of the phase I, II, and III to address the significant loss of wetlands in the western lake erie basin of ohio, michigan, and indiana prior to 1850, the…

This $703,498 cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3, under the Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance program (CFDA 15.608), will support wetland and grassland habitat restoration in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Ducks Unlimited, Inc. will work with its conservation partners to restore at least 293 acres of wetlands and 165 acres of upland native warm season grasslands on private lands in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio over three years. This habitat restoration aims to improve water quality in Lake Erie by reducing sediment and nutrient runoff, while also providing habitat for waterfowl, trust species, and other wetland and grassland wildlife including monarch butterflies and pollinators. Ducks Unlimited will submit semi-annual progress and financial reports, as well as a final report upon completion in September 2026, detailing project activities, accomplishments, and expenditures under this cooperative agreement.

Our phase IV proposal builds on the successes of the phase I, II, and III to address the significant loss of wetlands in the western lake erie basin of ohio, michigan, and indiana prior to 1850, the western lake erie basin was an expansive wetland complex more than 300,000 acres in size known as the great black swamp today only about 12,000 acres 4 remain loss of wetlands along lake erie S western shore is also severe more than 95 of the original wetlands along the U S shoreline have been lost since the 1860S the condition of many remaining wetlands has been degraded by excessive loadings of sediments and nutrients, contaminants, shoreline modification, invasive species, and other stressors more than 90 of the western lake erie basin is privately owned and 71 is in row crop agriculture high commodity prices continue to drive upland conversion and wetland drainage, exacerbate already high rates of habitat loss and soil erosion, and contribute to severe water quality impairments this has also led to population reductions in many species of fish, wildlife, and plants, and significant water quality issues in lake erie high rates of nitrogen and phosphorous entering lake erie have resulted in widespread algal blooms, low levels of oxygen that stress fish and other aquatic organisms, beach closings, drinking water restrictions, and have negatively impacted the regional economy that is largely driven by lake based recreation in november 2016, the state of michigan designated its portion of the lake erie watershed as impaired in march 2018, the ohio environmental protection agency followed suit and declared the ohio portion of lake erie impaired due to significant water quality concerns our partnership will address the loss of fish and wildlife habitat and impaired water quality in lake erie by restoring or enhancing at least 293 acres of wetlands and 165 acres of native warm season grasses in the western lake erie basin these activities will be implemented through private land programs administered by the U S fish and wildlife service S partners for fish and wildlife, ohio department of natural resources, michigan department of natural resources, indiana department of natural resources, ottawa soil and water conservation district, ducks unlimited, and pheasant forever objectives 1 restore at least 293 acres of wetlands, primarily palustrine emergent and other nationally decreasing wetland types, on privately owned lands in the western lake erie basin 2 restore at least 165 acres of native warm season grasses with wildflowers on privately owned lands in the western lake erie basin 3 improve water quality in lake erie by restoring habitats that have proven to reduce the amount of sediments and nutrients reaching the lake deliverables over a three year period, we will restore or enhance at least 293 acres of wetlands and 165 acres of upland native warm season grasslands on private lands in indiana, michigan and ohio for waterfowl, federal trust species, state listed species, and other wetland and grassland dependent wildlife, including monarch butterflies and other pollinator species we anticipate submitting five semi annual progress and financial reports and one final progress and financial report under this award these reports will describe project activities, accomplishments, and contain a detailed budget the final report will include photos, maps, and location information for all completed projects