Shallow Lake & Wetland Protection Program - Phase V

Ducks Unlimited (DU) worked with willing seller private landowners who had previously expressed interest in selling adjacent or very near existing state Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) to the Minnesota DNR.  Once we directly confirmed the interest of the private landowner in receiving a purchase offer, DU hired private consultant surveyors and appraisers to conduct legal land surveys and appraisals of the land, and made offers to private landowners.  Most of these parcels were known by DU and Minnesota DNR in advance of the appropriation, and thus DU moved very quickly.  After this ML2016 OHF grant was appropriated, DU closed five acquisitions in fall 2016 and the remaining three acquisitions in 2017.  In total, eight parcels totaling 824 acres were acquired by DU, far exceeding our grant goal of 600 acres.  As each of these eight parcels were largely cropland, with the exception of the 40-acre parcel on Altona WMA in Lincoln County which was intact wetland and native prairie grassland, significant restoration was required which took DU through June 2021 to fully complete. 

DU biologists and engineers worked together with Minnesota DNR area wildlife managers to plan and implement restorations.  DU engineers surveyed and designed wetland restorations, and hired private earthmoving construction firms (following state procurement procedures) to disrupt drainage ditches and subsurface drain tile, remove sediment, and install water control structures where needed.  To restore upland areas back to native prairie grasslands, DU relied on the expertise of Minnesota DNR wildlife managers and prairie ecologists to select plant species seeds, which were installed by either Minnesota DNR field staff or by private restoration contractors using either native grass seed drills or broadcast seed spreaders, depending on the time of year and preference of the Minnesota DNR manager.  Except for some native grass and forb seeding, all restoration work was done by private contractors. 

DU used the state OHF expenditures for land acquisitions to leverage over $200,000 in federal North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant funds to help pay for restoration costs. 

All lands acquired by DU were subsequently transferred to the Minnesota DNR after a one-to-two year hold time, during which DU pay local county taxes due.  All lands have been open for public use since acquisition by DU, and have been incorporated in the the state WMA system for long-term management by the Minnesota DNR and public use.