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Glacial Habitat Restoration Area

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Glacial Habitat Restoration Areas

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The Glacial Habitat Restoration Area (GHRA) is a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) program which takes a regional approach to wildlife management by restoring, creating and maintaining habitat for waterfowl, wild pheasants, and non-game songbirds. The program’s focus is the creation of a patchwork of restored grasslands and wetlands amid the established croplands of Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties and thereby maximizing wildlife habitat. In an era of increasing rural development and disappearing farmland and wetland, these areas are critical to the nesting, feeding and overall survival of birds and other wildlife populations.

Through the purchase of land and the establishment of perpetual conservation easements, the GHRA is working towards its goal of restoring and conserving 38,600 acres of permanent grassland nesting cover and 11,000 acres of wetlands in the 24-township area. These restoration activities are made possible through a variety of funding sources including the use of state Stewardship funds which are used primarily for land acquisition activities. In addition, habitat restoration activities are funded through license fees as well as pheasant, turkey and waterfowl stamp accounts. Federal sources of funding are also utilized heavily including Pittman-Robertson Funds and North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants. Besides these public sources of funding, numerous local and state conservation organizations, as well as private donors, contribute financially to the success of the GHRA habitat objectives.

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Glacial Habitat Restoration Area Newsletters

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Questions for Wildlife Management

Last Revised: Wednesday April 05 2006