Wetland Restoration – A Model of Nature’s Diversity

Two-acre restored wetland after one year of filling with water

If nature has a popular wildlife destination it’s a wetland—an ecosystem made up of open water, emergent vegetation and surrounding upland habitat. Wetlands provide some of the most diverse habitat and wildlife in all of nature. Waterfowl, game birds and songbirds, mammals, countless insects, amphibians and much more live in and around wetlands.

Over the past century, much of America’s wetlands were either drained or significantly altered, usually for agricultural reasons but also for roads and new home construction. In the past two decades, efforts have been made to stop the loss, and restore wetlands to a more natural state.

A wetland restoration project can be of any size; it can be a vast wetland complex with many species of vegetation, or it can be a simple pond in the backyard. Large or small, wetland restoration provides environmental protections, wildlife habitat and recreation use. But restoring wetlands requires some technical expertise and the right soil conditions to complete successfully.

Project site before restoration

To get started, a landowner should speak with habitat specialists; they will help determine the best location for a wetland by assessing the surrounding terrain and testing the soil. Most state governments have programs that help landowners reclaim wetlands. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service can lend important insights. And some local sportsmen groups will be able to help. One group is Pheasant’s Forever’s Habitat Forever. Habitat Forever consists of teams of specialists who help landowners develop and manage their habitat acreage, including wetlands.

John and Sonya Lenarz of Pierce County, Wisconsin restored a one-acre lowland on their 80-acre farm. “Habitat specialists pointed out the low area on our farm and suggested restoring it as a wetland,” John recounted. “They tested the soil and concluded that it probably was a wetland at one time, and could be again.”

To begin, the habitat specialists needed to create an earth berm, or dike to hold back the water. A bulldozer was called in to move enough dirt to form a 150-foot berm, leaving a depression about four feet deep to hold water. They also installed a water control device—a low area in the berm called a spillway—to manage the water level during wet periods.

A bulldozer works on a wetland restoration.

Most wetland restoration projects also include managing some of the surrounding uplands, for example hillsides. An effective mid-range tractor for many kinds of habitat projects is 50 to 75-horsepower, such as New Holland’s Boomer™ or TN-A series. Mid-range tractors are affordable, comfortable and have resale value.

The Lenarzs planted 20 acres of uplands with native prairie grasses and used a mesh fabric to prevent erosion until the vegetation took root.

A New Holland TN-A tractor is the perfect size for completing upland management tasks like grading, plowing, discing, mowing, planting, and more.

“We seeded the uplands prior to the wetland filling up so we could manage the grasses without worrying about getting stuck in mud,” said John. “Even so, before the vegetation had grown on the berm, water had already filled in the wetland.”

A habitat specialist can assist in selecting the proper vegetation based on the project’s geographic location.

A months-old restored wetland. Note the upland habitat in the foreground.

Within weeks, waterfowl and other wildlife quickly discovered Lenarz’s reclaimed habitat and were frequenting it. “I love the sounds of frogs, crickets and other insects that come from the wetland,” said John. “We see deer, raccoon and other critters—all signs of a healthy wetland. It’s like when I was a kid.”

Some wetland complexes also benefit the environment by cleansing the water that moves through them, or by holding back water that could cause erosion and flood damage if allowed to drain through ditches and rivers.

Geese already populate a days-old restored wetland. Note the dozer tracks still visable in the berm.

Recreationally, the Lenarz family ice skate on their new wetland in the winter, enjoy the wildlife in the spring and summer, and hunt pheasants and waterfowl in the fall.

“A hundred years ago, this was probably a wetland, so the land is just doing what it’s supposed to do,” John observed. “I say if the opportunity is there to restore a wetland, then take it. There are a lot of people who want to help.

The view from the farm yard

For more information about wetland restoration, contact your local government’s natural resources agency, local sportsman’s groups, or Pheasants Forever (877-773-2070, www.pheasantsforever.org).

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