SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has awarded grants for waterfowl habitat restoration and preservation in Canadian breeding grounds.

Illinois Migratory Waterfowl Stamp funds, generated when hunters purchase Illinois "duck stamps," are used to conserve critical wetland and grassland breeding habitat on the Canadian prairies. This is the primary breeding ground of waterfowl that migrate to Illinois and throughout the 14 states of the Mississippi Flyway.

Illinois law specifies the use and distribution of these funds to areas outside of Illinois that provide waterfowl to the Mississippi Flyway and for implementation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

The State Migratory Waterfowl Committee met Feb. 9 to review three grant applications for funding through the Special Wildlife Funds Grant Program for 2023. Funding available for fiscal year 2023 is $500,000. Of that, $352,500 will go to Saskatchewan and $147,500 will go to Manitoba.

After reviewing the proposals and in-meeting presentations by the applicants, the State Migratory Waterfowl Committee recommended the following funding. The committee awarded the following:

• $352,500 to Ducks Unlimited for work in Saskatchewan
• $75,000 to Delta Waterfowl for work in Manitoba
• $72,500 to Ducks Unlimited for work in Manitoba

Potential applicants for these migratory waterfowl programs can find more information on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website at https://bit.ly/IDNRduckstamp. To browse all State of Illinois grant opportunities, visit https://bit.ly/IllinoisCSFA.