Ducks Unlimited Recognizes NRCS Employees for Wetlands Efforts

COLUMBIA, MO, April 9, 2007 – Missouri Ducks Unlimited recently recognized 25 employees and former employees of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for their efforts to advance wetlands in Missouri.

The honorees were presented plaques during Ducks Unlimited’s 2007 State Chairman’s Award Luncheon on March 24. The awards were to recognize the employees for their technical assistance to wetland conservation. NRCS’ Wetlands Reserve Program has restored 120,000 acres of wetland habitat through 800 contracts in Missouri since the program’s inception in 1992.

In addition to the NRCS personnel, 11 employees and former employees of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) were recognized. Through a partnership agreement, MDC wetland biologists work out of NRCS area offices to assist with wetlands restoration efforts.

“Restoring 120,000 acres of wetlands exemplifies what can be accomplished when leaders and professional employees from federal and state agencies find a way to work together for a common cause,” said Jim Talbert, state chairman of Missouri Ducks Unlimited.

Roger Hansen, NRCS state conservationist, said the restoration of more than 2,700 acres of wetlands at the state’s B.K. Leach Memorial Conservation Area is a good example of the successful partnership effort.

NRCS, MDC, Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, American Land Conservancy, Missouri Waterfowl Association, Mary E. Leach Trust Fund, and Forrest Keeling Nursery partnered to restore 950 acres in the Bittern Basin and 1,850 acres in Kings Lake. Those restorations nearly tripled the size of the wetland area at B.K. Leach, located three miles south of Elsberry in Lincoln County. The area provides critically important habitat for migratory birds and wetland wildlife.

“I am proud of the voluntary partnership accomplishments of WRP in Missouri,” Hansen said. “The B.K. Leach project shows what can get done when people work together.”

For information about WRP and other NRCS programs, click here or contact the NRCS office serving your county. To find a service center in your area, please click here.

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