NEW ULM, Minn. August 8, 2011— Ducks Unlimited recently recognized Benjamin J. Schaefer, realty specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Lands and Minerals, with a "Beyond the Call" award. Josh Kavanagh, DU biologist, presented the award to Schaefer at a southern regional wildlife staff meeting in New Ulm, Minn., where Schaefer is located.
"Ben's above and beyond the call effort has been critical to helping DNR acquire easements to complete several important cooperative shallow lake enhancement projects throughout the state over the last two years," said Jon Schneider, manager of
Minnesota conservation programs. "Without Ben's positive attitude and hard work to secure voluntary easements from private landowners, several complex shallow lake water control structure projects simply would not have been possible."
Projects benefiting from Schaefer's determination include Smith Lake and Malardi WMA in Wright County, Lake Christina in Douglas County, Denton Slough in Grant County, and Hobza WMA in Blue Earth County. He is currently working on easements for a number of other shallow lake enhancement projects, several of which will be funded through support from Minnesota's Outdoor Heritage Fund, created by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
"Without Ben's dedication, extra effort and unique ability to work with private landowners, several of these projects would have been severely delayed and possibly abandoned," Kavanagh said. "Ben continues to eagerly provide realty help with key shallow lake projects across the state, and his involvement has been invaluable to our ability to implement DU's Living Lakes Initiative and complete water control structure construction projects recommended for state funding by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council."
Ducks Unlimited and the Minnesota DNR have developed a strong partnership to enhance shallow lakes in support of the state's Long-range Duck Recovery Plan and habitat goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. In cooperation, several shallow lake enhancement projects have been completed throughout the state since passage of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in November 2008, including several of DNR's 45 designated wildlife lakes, improving both water quality and waterfowl habitat throughout the state.
Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres, thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.