Ducks Unlimited (DU) is committed to ensuring that our conservation programs throughout North America are directed in the most important landscapes for conserving continental waterfowl populations. To that end, DU’s conservation planning and science sta?in the Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional O?ce identify and implement research to ?ll important information gaps about waterfowl ecology and wetland habitat. Through this research and a detailed strategic planning process, key landscapes known as “priority areas” are identi?ed. DU targets about 90% of our sta?and ?nancial resources in these priority areas because we know our e?orts there will have the greatest impact on waterfowl populations.
In 2008, DU updated our strategic plan for the Great Lakes region. The update incorporated new data from a computer model developed by DU to predict where mallards will settle on the landscape in the spring to nest and preliminary data from an ongoing study to determine the spring migration habitat needs of waterfowl and shorebirds in the Great Lakes. One outcome was the expansion of the Southeast Lake Michigan Watershed Priority Area to include the Muskegon River watershed where DU will target the conservation of mallard breeding habitat by restoring emergent wetlands and establishing native warm season grasses.
