Ducks Unlimited recently completed construction work on a wetland-enhancement project on Lakeview Wildlife Management Area (WMA) along eastern Lake Ontario. Funding for this project was provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). DU, the Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation used these funds to enhance the Lakeview Marsh Barrier Beach Ecosystem along the lakeshore, improving waterfowl habitat as well as spawning and nursery habitat for northern pike and other wetland-dependent wildlife.

"In cooperation with our great New York partners, the GLRI funding has allowed us to protect and restore hundreds of acres of critical wetland habitat in the Lake Ontario watershed," said Sarah Fleming, DU's regional biologist in New York. Restoration efforts included excavating channels to enhance fish passage, creating spawning pools and pothole habitat, and controlling invasive plant species to provide habitat connectivity and restore functional hydrology to the coastal marsh system.