September 2020 Habitat Program Updates

By Peter Ziegler, Project Director

Thanks to all of the support we received from our membership over the summer, WWA was able to continue its good work on the ground, restoring habitat where ducks need it most and will thrive best.  WWA currently has active projects in Fond du Lac, Walworth, Winnebago, Marquette, Sauk, Ozaukee, Outagamie and Sheboygan counties.  We have not slowed down our efforts for restoration and are active on other projects throughout the state, which should see more habitat on the ground in the coming year.

The dry spell was a nice chance to get some work done in the field while staying fairly clean for a change since I typically work in rubber boots and boot-sucking mud.  This weather pattern has also started to concentrate birds to available water, which is good news for those of us looking forward to hunting season.

These are some pictures of a recent project we completed in Fond du Lac County.  I really like these type projects since they are pretty straight forward and our cost per acre is good, making WWA’s membership support dollars go farther.

Here we removed a rusted out culvert through a farm road on a ditch line, installed a new pipe and water control structure, which will provide the ability to flood approximately 15 acres.  With an adjacent larger waterbody nearby, and over a hundred acres of warm season grass cover for nesting in the one mile surrounding this area, this is sure to be a project that proves to be very beneficial to waterfowl.