After a 3-year planning process that included extensive public involvement, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a Final Environmental Assessment for a refuge proposed in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois. The new refuge has been authorized, however the project will not be implemented until a 60-day period ends on October 15, 1999. At that point, regional planners will begin preparing a comprehensive conservation plan for 14 focus areas identified in the Final Environmental Assessment. The Minnesota Wetland Management Districts administer scattered tracts of land throughout Minnesota. The purpose of these tracts is to preserve wetlands and produce waterfowl.
Most lands are in the prairie pothole region of Minnesota.
In 1997, the Districts managed approximately 172,000 acres of land owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 62,000 acres held as wetland easements. By agreement with the State of Minnesota, the acreage owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under this program will not exceed 231,000 of owned land and 365,170 acres of easements. A comprehensive conservation plan is being prepared for the lands managed by the Minnesota Wetland Management Districts. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received the lands that are now Rydell National Wildlife Refuge as a gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in 1992. Located in Polk County in northwestern Minnesota, the 2,120-acre refuge is a mosaic of wetlands, hardwood stands, conifer plantations, grass meadows and cropland.