Northeast Indiana Pothole Initiative

Now in our sixth program year, DU, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Indiana DNR and Pheasants Forever continue to work collaboratively to restore wetlands and associated grasslands on private lands in an eight county region of northeastern Indiana, including Allen, Dekalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties. In June 2005, Ducks Unlimited received a $50,000 Small NAWCA Grant to continue wetland restoration and native prairie establishment in this area. Last year, the partnership helped restore 22 acres of wetland and established 13 acres of native prairie on a total of 5 project sites. To date, the partners have restored 25 wetlands totaling 89 acres and established over 498 acres of native prairie. Several on-going projects are expected to be restored and complete in 2006. This 8-county initiative targets a region of the state that is dotted with numerous small wetlands and contains vast expanses of associated grasslands that combine to provide high-quality waterfowl nesting and brood-rearing habitat.