Chris LaRue, biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, spoke to the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary club on Wetlands Restoration in our Iowa Great Lakes on Wednesday, Janaury 26.
 
Wetland restoration not only improves our water quality but also helps our wildlife habitat. Three critical projects have taken place since 2004 to help with wetland restoration: The first project was the Diamond Lake project located north of West Lake Okoboji. The lake was shallow and stagnant but after removing rough fish and establishing vegetation, it is now a productive lake. The second project took place at Jemmerson Slough off hwy 9. Over time, the slough had degraded but is now a hight quality functioning wetland with an abundance of reestablished wildlife. Currently, the D.N.R. is preparing to work on a small wetlands area west of Okoboji View with construction starting in 2012. LaRue emphasized the importance of small wetlands being critical to protect our larger ones as well as our lakes. The Rotary members gained much knowledge on this very informative program!