Ducks Unlimited engineers have completed survey work at the Weise Lake Project located on the Cameron National Wildlife Refuge near Henry, Il. Final engineering design is expected early this spring. Weise Lake is a flagship project of DU's new Illinois River Program. Although we still need additional financial assistance, DU has raised nearly half the funds needed to complete the $250,000 project through the generous support of the Rice and the Buchanan Foundations. Additional funding assistance is being provided through a grant under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The first phase of the Weis Lake was completed in 2001.

Duck Ranch
Henry, Illinois
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has acquired 365 acres along the Illinois River near Henry, Il thanks in part to DU. The "Duck Ranch" had been on the market for nearly two years when DU stepped in and helped broker a deal with the landowners to sell to the state using funds provided by The Conservation Fund. The "Duck Ranch" is now slated to become a new walk-in waterfowl hunting area administered by by Marshall County State Fish and Wildlife Area. DU planned to enhance more than 110 acres of wetland on the property during the summer of 2001 using a combination of DU funds and grants from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

DU Received $1 Million for Illinois River Basin

The North American Wetlands Conservation Council recommended approval of a $997,500 grant to DU for wetland conservation work in the Illinois River Basin. Funds from the grant will allow DU and its partners to acquire and protect 560 acres of existing wetland habitat along the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers. Additional funds have gone towards DU projects aimed at enhancing more than 850 acres of wetlands at Cameron National Widlife Refuge and Marshall County State Fish and Wildlife Area near Henry, Il. The grant has also provided DU with $100,000 for habitat projects on private lands in the Illinois River Watershed.