SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) today announced the award of grants for waterfowl habitat restoration and preservation in Canadian waterfowl breeding grounds. State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp Funds are utilized to award grants to provide for the conservation and propagation of waterfowl, for the development of additional waterfowl propagation areas within the Dominion of Canada that specifically provide waterfowl for the Mississippi Flyway, and for projects approved by the IDNR for the purpose of attracting waterfowl and improving those migratory waterfowl propagation areas. These state funds are collected from Illinois licensed waterfowl hunters every year and are set aside specifically for this purpose as outlined in state statute.

The State Migratory Waterfowl Committee met on February 1, 2021 to review three grant applications for funding through the Special Wildlife Funds Grant Program for 2021. A total of $352,500 was available for projects in Saskatchewan and $147,500 was available for projects in Manitoba.

After reviewing the proposals, the committee recommended $352,500 be awarded to Ducks Unlimited for projects in Saskatchewan.

The committee recommended $75,000 be awarded to Delta Waterfowl and $72,500 be awarded to Ducks Unlimited for projects in Manitoba.

Potential applicants for these migratory waterfowl programs can find more information on the IDNR website at https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/grants/Pages/DuckStamp.aspx   To view the Notice of Funding Opportunity for these programs or to browse all State of Illinois grant opportunities, see https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/GATA/Grants/SitePages/CSFA.aspx

4/7/2021