Approximately 100 acres of wetland and another 170 acres of bottomland forest will be restored along the Mississippi River in Randolph County if Ducks Unlimited is able to fully implement its restoration plan for Rockwood Island.

In 2005, DU purchased 318 acres at Rockwood Island using proceeds from a North American Wetland Conservation Act grant. Through a cooperative venture with the Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation and Development District and the American Land Conservancy (ALC), DU completed a topographic survey and restoration plan for its landholdings, and for adjoining areas that are owned by the Fish and Wildlife Service or under purchase agreement by ALC.

DU’s plan seeks to restore an abandoned side channel of the Mississippi River to wetlands and plant bottomland hardwood trees on the remaining portions of Rockwood Island. The plan was designed so that restoration could take place in phases or as funds are secured. Grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Illinois Habitat Stamp Fund have already been approved for the project. The estimated cost of the entire restoration project is $422,000.