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Ducks Unlimited

After an investment of $2.3 million and more than a decade of conservation work, Ducks Unlimited (DU) and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) completed multiple projects to enhance habitat at Sanborn Lake Wildlife Management Area.

Starting in 2007, DU designed and installed a new water control structure to replace the fixed-crest dam at Sanborn Lake's outlet. The structure allows for periodic drawdowns to eliminate invasive fish and restore the lake’s ecological balance, promoting the growth of native plants and invertebrates beneficial to ducks and other wildlife.

DU also assisted MNDNR in working with Le Sueur County to modify a section of the drainage ditch system running through Sanborn Lake. DU and MNDNR also partnered to protect and restore the land surrounding Sanborn Lake. Four parcels, totaling 311 acres, were purchased by DU for MNDNR with state Outdoor Heritage Fund appropriations and restored back to prairie and small pothole wetlands to reduce runoff and provide nesting habitat for waterfowl. With additional financial support from local sportsmen’s groups and conservation clubs in Montgomery, prairie restoration was completed in 2016, and 13 acres of wetlands were restored in 2017.

“Sanborn is the embodiment of the Living Lakes Initiative,” said John Lindstrom, DU Manager of Conservation Programs. “On a single morning, I have watched blue-winged teal take flight from one of the restored wetlands on-site, heard sandhill cranes trumpeting in the distance and heard vocalizations from various grassland birds.”

Sanborn Lake is a 361-acre shallow lake located in Le Sueur County, about an hour southeast of Minneapolis, in the far eastern portion of the Prairie Pothole Region. Due to heavy use by waterfowl, Sanborn Lake was officially designated one of Minnesota’s 56 “Wildlife Management Lakes” in 1982. This designation grants the MNDNR the authority to manage the lake’s water levels through temporary drawdowns to enhance wetland habitat for wildlife.

In recent years, waterfowl activity at Sanborn Lake has decreased due to the introduction of invasive species like carp and consistently high-water levels. Additionally, much of Le Sueur County’s landscape is drained, with a legal drainage ditch running through Sanborn Lake itself. The conversion of prairie land and pothole wetlands to intensive row-crop farming has further degraded the lake.

“In 2007, a petition to repair the drainage system, including the dam at the lake’s outlet, drew the attention of Ducks Unlimited, the Minnesota DNR, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,” said Jon Schneider, DU Senior Manager of Conservation Programs. “Thanks to grants from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, coupled with contributions from partners and DU Major Sponsors to our Living Lakes Initiative, this decade-long project has finally come to fruition for the ducks and the public.”

Media Contact:

Joe Genzel

(309) 453-0979

jgenzel@ducks.org