Ann Arbor, Mich. - February 25, 2009 - Ducks Unlimited (DU) recently received a grant of $20,000 from the Reliant Energy Foundation directed towards conservation activities at Pymatuning Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Crawford County, Pa. The conservation organization will use the grant as matching funds to restore and enhance almost 650 acres of that valuable wetland complex. Work will begin in the spring of 2009.

The first phase of the work at Pymatuning will include 14.7 new acres of marsh wetlands, created by constructing earthen dikes and installing water-control structures. Future projects include improvements to be made on an additional 624.3 acres of scrub-shrub habitat to include the replacement of dysfunctional water-control structures. These wetland types provide a diversity of plant species and structural features that support feeding, breeding, nesting, over-wintering and migration habitat for wildlife.

The grant is an extension of a ten-year relationship between Reliant Energy Foundation and Ducks Unlimited. The two organizations have worked together in several states improving wetlands that benefit waterfowl and other wildlife.

"Partnerships like this are invaluable when delivering conservation," said Scott Reinhart, Regional Biologist for Ducks Unlimited. "We thank Reliant Energy for their continued support of not only Ducks Unlimited, but also the people, wildlife, and conservation of this important resource"

Ducks Unlimited will use the Reliant funds as a match for Mellon Foundation-supported work in Western Pennsylvania. Additional partners include the Pennsylvania Game Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania.

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization, with almost 12 million acres conserved. The United States has lost more than half of its original wetlandsnature's most productive ecosystemand continues to lose more than 80,000 acres each year.