The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Ducks Unlimited will conduct a tour of the construction site at the Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge south of Sumner.
Refuge Manager Steve Whitson and Ducks Unlimited Engineer Ryan Conley will lead the project tour for the public and media to provide them an opportunity to see what the project area will look like and how it will function.
The tour will start at the Swan Lake Visitor Center on the morning of August 18th at 9 o’clock. Those interested in participating in the tour need to contact Steve Whitson at 660-856-3323 extension 13 to register. Whitson asks that those leaving a message tell him their name and the number of attendees in their group.
The project at Swan Lake focuses on expanding the amount of wetland habitat and converting portions of the higher ground to grasslands which will affect 1,890 acres of habitat at Swan Lake, and include the restoration of 780 acres located between Silver Lake and the Swan Lake Marsh, and the enhancement of 1,110 acres of existing wetlands.
Ducks Unlimited secured a one million dollar grant in 2014 from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to restore and enhance wetland habitat at the refuge.
CC Schlueter, Incorporated of Tripplet began project construction in May with authorities at Swan Lake reporting about 80% of the project has been completed.
