Growing Sioux Falls area fuels wetland restoration
During fiscal year 2019, Ducks Unlimited sold more than $450,000 of mitigation credits to six development projects in the vicinity of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The city is one of the region's fastest growing with a metro-area population increase of 13.5 percent since 2010. Because of the unavoidable impacts to wetlands caused by urban development, the city and other development companies pay DU to mitigate for those damages.
The Moody County In-Lieu Fee (ILF) mitigation site is owned by Ducks Unlimited and is being used to offset wetland damages occurring in the Lower Big Sioux watershed, which includes the Sioux Falls area. DU began restoration of the Moody County site in 2017, transforming a previously drained agriculture field to productive waterfowl habitat. DU restored approximately 60 acres of wetlands and 90 acres of native upland prairie on this mitigation site in the Prairie Pothole Region. The restored wetlands include small shallow potholes, larger deeper potholes and slope wetlands. DU's mitigation work not only restores valuable waterfowl habitat, it also benefits businesses and communities and earns revenue for Ducks Unlimited's conservation mission.