Ducks Unlimited was awarded a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant to implement the third phase of an conservation project to restore and enhance wetlands within the confluence of the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers. Project partners committed approximately $5.25 million in matching funds to improve water management and restore natural flow patterns and drainage on 2,424 acres of wetlands and associated uplands on the Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge, about 40 miles northwest of St. Louis.

"This work will give us the opportunity to restore natural hydrology and minimize the impacts of flooding on the refuge," said Mark Flaspohler, DU's manager of conservation programs in Missouri. "As a result, we will be able to protect and restore some of the region's most productive habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds."

Ducks Unlimited partnered with private donors, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to receive NAWCA funding for this project.