WETLAND RESTORATION & ENHANCEMENT

• Any property owner is eligible to participate in the program, and participants are not required to allow public access or give up any property rights. Many participants find out about the program through contacts with federal personnel administering the Food Security Act (Farm Bill) efforts like the Conservation Reserve Program, which encourages landowners to remove certain lands from crop production. But non-farmers can also get help from the project.

• In most cases, participating landowners get the work done at a minimal cost, with the Foundation paying all costs over a certain amount. The landowner is asked to sign a 10-year agreement which states that installed water control devices or earthen ditch plugs will not be removed by the property owner during the period of the agreement.

• Feasibility tests for use of "Cookie Cutter" machine for creating openings in marshes.
• Development of a special hand-held pump for cleaning sand traps in streams.
• Feasibility tests for use of predator exclusion fences in waterfowl nesting meadows.

• Funded study of genetics-related issues in Michigan turkey management.
• Conducted study of wetland management potential on lands owned by Mead Paper Company (675,000 acres) in Upper Peninsula.
• Assisted with development of master plan for the Drayton Plains Nature Center (Pontiac).
• Conducted feasibility analyses for numerous lake cleanup, flooding, and pond construction projects.
• Conducted study of sharp-tailed grouse populations and habitats throughout northern Michigan.
• Conducted baseline research to prove existence of a Michigan cougar population.