After two years in the making, Ducks Unlimited is pleased to announce the completion of the Mark T. Landgren Marsh in Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin. Outdoor enthusiasts, contributors and friends of Mark T. Landgren gathered March 25, 2006, at the Marsh site near Shickley, NE, to commemorate this environmental accomplishment, and celebrate the life of well known Nebraska sportsman, Mark T. Landgren.
Private contributions for the project provided a significant portion of the funds necessary to restore this 200-plus-acre wetland. The marsh will play a vital role in sustaining the many species of waterfowl and other wildlife that rely on vanishing wetlands in Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin to survive and reproduce. It will be a public access wetland, open to hunting, wildlife observation and other outdoor interests.
In one of the few projects of its kind in Nebraska, friends and family of avid sportsman Mark T. Landgren organized to fund and dedicate this project after Landgren’s tragic death in a rollover accident in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada in June of 2004. His wife, Sara, of Lincoln, and two young sons Sam, 3, and Ben, 2, survive Mark.
The dedication ceremony featured presentations by regional representatives from Ducks Unlimited, Tom Bowen, project Chairman, and friends and family of Mark T. Landgren. Other partners involved in this project included the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Rainwater Basin Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, North American Wetlands Conservation Council and the Shickley Volunteer Fire Department.