ANN ARBOR, Mich. (November 10, 2011)—Ducks Unlimited has received a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant to conduct a feasibility analysis of the Sheboygan Marsh dam in northwestern Sheboygan County near Elkhart Lake, Wis. Project partners include Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The grant will allow the partners to determine renovation or replacement options at the existing Sheboygan Marsh dam. In cooperation with project partners, Ducks Unlimited engineering staff will compile all necessary data to provide a comprehensive analysis of the dam and will begin work in this fall.

Covering more than 14,000 acres, Sheboygan Marsh is the largest restored wetland in the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds of Wisconsin. The outlet of Sheboygan Marsh contains an aging concrete dam that cannot adequately control water levels in the marsh. The dam must be renovated or replaced because it cannot handle normal volumes of water during storm events. Rapid rises and wide fluctuations in water levels have caused the uprooting of large expanses of cattails from the marsh. In addition to the destruction of marsh habitat and the difficulty imposed on water-level management, tens of thousands of dollars are expended annually to remove the dislodged cattails that impede water flow at the outlet directly upstream of the dam.

Enhancement of this significant emergent wetland will help meet the goals of several Great Lakes Basin conservation plans, including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture Implementation Plan, and the Coastal Program – Great Lakes Strategic Plan. Renovating the degraded dam will provide significant wetland habitat benefits for breeding and migrating waterfowl, other wetland wildlife and the public. 

Sheboygan County Administrator Adam Payne said, "I am grateful Ducks Unlimited has taken such an interest in one of our county's most important natural resources. Their study will bring us one step closer in improving this resource for citizens and visitors alike."

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest non-profit 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.

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