The UPPER MISSISSIPPI CONSERVATION ILLINOIS RIVER RIVER UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

The Upper Mississippi River Ecosystem Initiative addresses the large land area that eventually drains into the Mississippi River. The river and its tributaries provide a major CONTACT INFORMATION migratory corridor for the Mississippi Flyway, which funnels NORTHWEST more waterfowl to the wintering grounds than all other fly- WISCONSIN BOB HOFFMAN ways. Habitat restoration and protection programs in the ROCK RIVER Director upper reaches of the watershed will significantly impact waterfowl habitat, as well as improve water quality in the [email protected] | 734.623.2000 Mississippi River, and address the hypoxia problem in the ILLINOIS RIVER DAVE BRAKHAGE Gulf of Mexico. Director of Conservation Programs, Great Lakes

OHIO/MISSISSIPPI OHIO [email protected] | 734.623.2000 PRIORITY AREAS CONFLUENCE RIVERS

Through science-based strategic planning, For more information on how you can GLARO has defined landscape initiative areas based on large-scale watersheds. This allows us to address waterfowl and support Ducks Unlimited, please contact: wildlife habitat issues, as well as water quality concerns that are important to this region. Within initiatives, we have defined priority areas in which to target our restoration activities. TODD BISHOP Director of Development; IL, MI, WI [email protected] | 734.623.2000

The four ecosystem initiatives of the Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Office include:

GREAT LAKES ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVE GREAT LAKES/ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE CHESAPEAKE BAY ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVE 1220 Eisenhower Place 734.623.2000 GREAT LAKES/ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE ATLANTIC COAST ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVE Ann Arbor, MI 48108 www.ducks.org LEADER IN WETLANDS CONSERVATION IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR THE ILLINOIS RIVER PRIORITY AREA ILLINOIS RIVER 19,364 acres per year (96,820 over a 5-year period) GLARO Estimated 5-year cost = $10,528,867 GREAT LAKES/ATLANTIC REGIONAL OFFICE

The Illinois River valley is a critical migration corri- CONSERVATION WORK The GREATLAKES/ATLANTICREGIONALOFFICE CONSERVATION delivers conservation programs in 18 states dor. The basin drains 28,500 square miles and is Most waterfowl habitat occurs in the middle and lower focused on breeding, migrating and wintering reaches of the Illinois River, hence conservation activities home to over 11 million people. Less than 1 percent waterfowl. Challenges include continued wetland have been concentrated in these areas. DU’s approach in loss, declining waterfowl populations, increasing of the native prairie remains. Human alterations of the middle reaches has been to “fill in the corridor” by urban sprawl, population growth and declining this landscape have made the Illinois River the most attempting to provide habitat along the expanse of the river for dabbling and diving ducks. These activities have water and air quality. degraded and threatened segment of the Upper been primarily acquisition followed by restoration To be as efficient and effective as possible, the designed for fall migration dabbling ducks. There is a Mississippi River system: less than 50 percent of the GLARO focuses its limited resources to areas that great need to do habitat work for diving ducks in both original flood plain habitat remains and nearly all of are most important to meeting the needs of water- spring and fall. Private land work exists all along the river, fowl. Priority areas were determined by breeding the 500,000 acre Grand Kankakee Marsh has disap- generally via enhancement of existing marshes with the and wintering/staging waterfowl use. These areas addition of new management capability. Restoring eco- peared. Despite these declines, 25 percent of all logical integrity to the system is the overall focus of are viewed as critical to supporting the annual life ducks in the Mississippi Flyway still use the Illinois restoration and protection work in this area for both cycle needs of waterfowl in this region. River as a migratory corridor. The upper tributaries breeding and wintering/staging waterfowl. are also used by breeding waterfowl.

WATERFOWL BENEFITS ILLINOIS RIVER The Illinois River priority area meets several life cycle UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER ECOSYSTEM INITIATIVE needs of waterfowl: predominantly breeding in the upper

watershed around Lake Michigan and wintering and Twenty-five percent of all ducks in the Mississippi Flyway use migration habitat in the middle and lower watershed. The the Illinois River as a migratory corridor. production area spans Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. Mallards, wood ducks and Canada geese are the primary nesting species. GREATER SCAUP