This article appeared in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s July 2025 Newsletter edition.
In addition to WWA’s rapidly growing restoration work on state and federal lands that we can all utilize, WWA collaborates with willing landowners to improve their properties for nesting and brood rearing. This makes sense if we care about the fall hunts enjoyed by state hunters.
The DNR tells us that most (~60%) of Wisconsin-harvested waterfowl are born here. Indeed, Wisconsin is considered one of the southernmost states that substantially contributes birds to the Mississippi flyway.- Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Wetland Association tells us most wetlands (about 75%) are in the hands of private landowners, and ~85% of restorable wetlands are privately held.
IT’S A NO-BRAINER. It doesn’t take a genius, then, to appreciate the importance of private lands to our fall success. Especially when you consider that smaller, privately held wetlands are, acre-for-acre, more productive breeding factories than large open-water marshes like those public wetlands that are migratory meccas where we hunt in the fall. Private lands work accounts for less than 10% of duck stamp restoration dollars, but contributes far more than 10% to the fall flight.
Your WWA recognized this importance of private wetlands decades ago and has a well-established program to encourage landowners to take care of their wetlands.
HOW WETLAND PROJECTS HAPPEN. Landowners can let us know they’re interested in a restoration project through our project portal. Based on that initial input, a WWA ecologist will remotely review the property for restoration potential, contact the landowner to discuss goals, and then visit the property for an initial assessment.
If there’s restoration potential, the ecologist will propose the project to WWA’s Habitat committee, which is comprised of staff and volunteers who evaluate it against established criteria to determine if it’s a good fit for further investment and what that investment should entail. If the committee wants to move forward, there’s a range of assistance WWA can provide, including design guidance, permitting assistance, and, if it’s a particularly good project, some financial assistance.
Our ecologist will then work with the landowner to develop an acceptable, and permittable design. After the necessary governmental reviews, our ecologist works with the landowner and earth-moving contractors to complete the project.
It’s worth noting that landowners average over 70% of the costs for projects in which we provide some funding. We have found that some “skin in the game” helps landowners maintain the wetlands produced by the projects.
Here’s some of our recent private lands projects. (FYI: the HUC-12 ranking included with each report is a state-wide prioritization scheme contained in Wisconsin’s Waterfowl habitat conservation strategy, which helps ensure we’re spending duck stamp dollars in the highest priority areas.)
