“Restored wetlands provide valuable wildlife habitat, increase biodiversity, improve water quality, increase the quality of life for owners and neighbors and raise property values of the landowner and neighbors,” notes Rick Welsh, Falk Family Endowed Professor of Food Studies. Professor Welsh was a co-investigator on the grant from the University of Michigan’s Water Center, “Wetlands for Wildlife: Understanding Drivers of Public-Private Partnership Restoration Success.”
This project, launched in 2013, was one of six led by multidisciplinary teams that received funding from the Water Center to support and enhance restoration and protection efforts of the Great Lakes basin. The project measured the ecological, social and economic impacts of 50 restored public-private partnership (PPP) wetlands on private landholdings within the Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River watershed in New York State.
PPP wetlands are important for conserving and restoring wetlands in the Great Lakes watershed. However, minimal assessments have been conducted to understand how these programs impact wetland-associated biodiversity within agricultural landscapes. Even less is known about the impact of wetland restoration on property values, as well as landowner motivations for participation in these projects.
The Water Center is part of the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute and is supported by funds from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation and the University of Michigan. As part of the project, Welsh worked with co-investigators Tom Langen (Clarkson University) and David Chandler (Syracuse University), including collaboration with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.