Ducks Unlimited and a coalition of 17 conservation partners have conserved 4,125 acres of wetland and grassland habitat on public and private lands across the 22-county Saginaw Bay Watershed. Funding for Phase II of the Saginaw Bay Wetland Initiative came from a $1,000,000 federal grant from the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, awarded to DU in 2001. DU accepted this grant on behalf of the partnership that together pledged $4.07 million in matching funds toward the grant. This project built on the success and expanded conservation efforts of the Phase I Saginaw Bay Wetland Initiative completed in 2004, which resulted in the conservation of an additional 4,178 acres of habitat in the Saginaw Bay watershed.

The purpose of this effort was to conserve habitat throughout the watershed to provide breeding and migration habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, neotropical songbirds, federal and state threatened and endangered species and other wildlife. Associated benefits of this work include improved water quality in Saginaw Bay and its tributaries and increased recreational opportunity for Michigan residents. More than 200 conservation projects were completed under the Phase II Initiative.

The partnership permanently protected 1,631 acres of either existing or restorable wetland habitat at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, nine Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) managed areas and on lands now owned by the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy, Hampton Township, and Saginaw-Chippewa Indian tribe of Michigan.

The restoration or enhancement of 1,713 acres of wetland and grassland habitat occurred at 13 Michigan DNR managed areas and on property owned by the Flint River Dike Board. In addition, 781 acres of wetlands and grasslands were restored on privately owned land through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s—Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program.