CONSERVATION ACTION
Making Duck Hunting & Conservation History
Ducks Unlimited Target Areas
— by Kathy Wine
Horseshoe Lake State Park
At the podium is Mayor Simmons of Greenville, MS and the woman to his right is Karen Waldrop, global conservation director for Ducks Unlimited at Granite City, IL
W hen Colin Wellenkamp, Executive Director, Upper Mississippi River & Towns Initiative, a coalition of 102 mayors from across the basin, was searching for spaces on the river for oodwater retention and how to acquire them, he had an ‘aha’ moment by making the connection between ducks, wetlands, and sorely needed funding. Flood water is stored in wetlands. Ducks populate wetlands. Duck hunters seek out wetlands in order to hunt ducks. Duck hunters buy land as needed for more wetlands. Cities and towns need wetlands for water retention. Duck hunters would help river cities and towns mitigate ooding by creating more wetlands on the Mississippi. That idea took hold, and in October, 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Ducks Unlimited, a national not-for-pro t dedicated to ghting wetland loss and purchasing vital habitat for waterfowl, other wildlife, people, and now cities, and MRCTI. This has resulted in $500,0000 Ducks Unlimited Project in Illinois that will assist
four cities: East St. Louis, Granite City, Madison, and Sauget. It is now moving forward on a massive DU project near Burlington, Iowa, and the project they have already underway for the Quad Cities includes restoring 7,000 acres near the mouth of the Rock River and Milan Bottoms. Mayors and ducks are happy with the recently passed Omnibus Funding Bill and Water Resources Development Act, too. The Omnibus included successes for river programs and projects that will assist the partnership: The North American Wetlands Conservation Fund received $50 million, EPA Categorial Grant for Wetlands received $14.7 million, the 319 Water Pollution Control Grant received $189 million, the Drinking Water Infrastructure Resilience & Sustainability Program received $25 million, and the Community Water System Risk and Resilience Program received $50 million. In addition to this $328.7 million, WRDA provided authorization for the rst ever lower river ecosystem restoration program which will help the DU projects there.
8 eddy Magazine | www.riveraction.org
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