In honor of American Wetlands Month, the below profile by Vera Leopold, TWI Senior Grants Manager, shares more about the work of the Wetlands Initiative to bring back healthy wetland ecosystems for people, nature, and yes, birds!
About The Wetlands Initiative
The Wetlands Initiative (TWI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to designing, restoring, and creating wetlands. TWI envisions a world with plentiful healthy wetlands improving water quality, climate, biodiversity, and human well-being. Headquartered in downtown Chicago, we carry out on-the-ground ecological restoration work across Illinois and Northwest Indiana. Below are some highlights from TWI’s main programs.
Key Sites and Involvements
The Dixon Waterfowl Refuge (known to many birders as “Hennepin-Hopper”) is TWI’s flagship restoration site. Once farmed for nearly a century, this 3,100-acre mosaic of 22 habitat types is located along the Illinois River just south of Hennepin, IL. The Refuge hosts tens of thousands of migratory waterfowl annually and is home to a range of rare wetland, prairie, and savanna bird species. This designated Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and Audubon Important Bird Area is freely open to the public year-round.
The bi-state Calumet region is one of TWI’s fastest-growing program areas. Here we are part of rich collaborations with public-private partners to bring back healthy hemi-marsh for wetland-dependent birds and nature access for urban residents at sites like Indian Ridge Marsh in Southeast Chicago and Grant St. Marsh/Wetlands in Gary, Indiana.
At Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, another well-known hotspot in Will County, TWI has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service for 25-plus years to restore vast prairie-wetland landscapes. Midewin provides critical large-scale habitat in the Chicago region for declining grassland birds. Finally, through our Smart Wetlands program, TWI partners with farmers to install small wetlands designed to naturally reduce nutrient runoff into local waterways—dotting the farm landscape with pockets of bird and wildlife habitat at the same time (though these are not open to the public).
Volunteer Opportunities
The Wetlands Initiative has many opportunities to get involved. Volunteer stewardship days at our Calumet sites and the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge let you get your hands dirty planting plugs, harvesting seeds, and more. Meanwhile, through TWI-led Crane Counts, Christmas Bird Counts, BioBlitzes, and more, you can help survey the wetlands’ diverse birdlife!
Learn more about TWI at www.wetlands-initiative.org.
Top Photo: TWI Lead Ecologist Katie Kucera marks a survey point at Indian Ridge Marsh in Chicago. Photo by TWI.