Michigan has historically lost 70% of its wetlands and nearly 99% of its native grasslands

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) awarded Ducks Unlimited, Inc. a Cooperative Agreement totaling $266,706 under the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (CFDA 15.631) effective May 1, 2025, through March 31, 2027. Under this agreement, Ducks Unlimited will restore and enhance approximately 140 acres of wetland and grassland habitat on privately-owned lands throughout Michigan. The cooperative agreement establishes a formal partnership between USFWS Michigan Ecological Services Field Office and Ducks Unlimited to increase operational efficiency in grant administration, project reporting, and habitat delivery, enabling the organizations to allocate maximum resources directly toward on-the-ground habitat restoration work.

This award builds upon an established conservation partnership dating to the late 1980s and addresses Michigan's significant habitat loss, including approximately 70% of historical wetlands and nearly 99% of native grasslands. The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program provides cost-share financial and technical assistance to private landowners for voluntary habitat restoration projects benefiting federal trust species. The funding will support habitat restoration activities designed to benefit migratory birds and other wildlife species while working directly with private landowners across the project area in Michigan.

Of 36.2 million acres in michigan, over 28.2 million (78%) are in private ownership (protected areas of michigan access. 2020). Comparatively, 1.7 of 2.3 billion acres (73%) of lands nationwide are privately owned. The conservation partnership between the U.S. Fish wildlife service (USFWS) and ducks unlimited, INC. (DU) developed in the late 1980S has successfully restored and enhanced wetland and grassland habitats on privately-owned land throughout michigan (vincent ET AL. 2020) through the USFWS partners for fish and wildlife program (PFW). The parties seek to establish a cooperative agreement between USFWS - miplo and DU to increase efficiency in reporting, grant and project administration, and habitat delivery, so that we can focus a majority of the resources to getting habitat on the ground. DU is requesting $250,000.00 from the USFWS through this cooperative agreement for the period of may 1, 2025 - march 31, 2027. We anticipate these funds will restore approximately 140 acres of habitat on private lands throughout the proposed project area.