Donald L. Hey and Albert E. Pyott founded The Wetlands Initiative in 1994 to focus restoration efforts and funds on reversing the environmental damage created by the drainage of wetlands in the upper Midwest. Hey and Pyott recognized the need for a niche organization that was small and nimble enough to focus its attention on wetlands—not the relatively pristine wilderness areas that should be saved—but the millions of drained acres that, when restored, could support diverse, healthy ecosystems while providing many additional environmental benefits.

In its first decade, The Wetlands Initiative has become a regional leader in wetland restoration, both in on-the-ground projects and in forward-thinking research. In 2001, The Wetlands Initiative began restoration at the Hennepin & Hopper Lakes Project, 2,600 acres of former backwater lakes and wetlands pumped dry for 80 years to make way for corn and soybean fields. Today, the project has been heralded as one of the foremost wetland restoration sites in the Midwest region. In 2005, the project was dedicated as the Sue & Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge.

In its second decade, The Wetlands Initiative intends to replicate its success of Hennepin & Hopper, creating more areas of natural landscapes where fish, waterfowl, mammals, butterflies thrive, and people find respite and recreation in a glorious mosaic of wetlands, prairies, savannas, seeps, and fens.

We seek to do more than merely restore drained wetlands one at a time. We know that direct contributions by public and private donors will never generate enough revenue to restore the millions of acres of wetlands needed to measurably improve the environment in the upper Midwest and beyond. Other sources of income must be created. Therefore,
The Wetlands Initiative has pioneered the strategy of “nutrient farming.” A nutrient farm is a constructed wetland designed, built, and operated for the primary purpose of processing nutrients (e.g., nitrogen and phosphorus), trapping sediments, or sequestering carbon. These wetlands produce environmental products (e.g., nutrient or carbon removal credits) that can be “harvested” or sold to individuals, corporations, or municipal treatment facilities that need to meet water quality standards. We believe that nutrient farming offers a realistic economic vehicle to enable landowners to convert marginally-productive lands to wetlands.