Pollution+and+Wildlife+in+the+Mississippi+River

Original Author: Zachary Nickels, A&S195 SP10 Revision Author: Bianca Carrillo, A&S195 SP11
 * Pollution and The National Wildlife Refuge System in the Mississippi River **


 * Introducing the Mississippi **

Starting in Minnesota and making its way to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River is a major economic and natural resource for the heartland of the United States. The Mississippi is much more than a ribbon of water; it is a watershed that drains all or part of 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces (Meade). It is the dominant watershed in North America, and drains 41% of the continental United States; it is the third largest watershed in the world. Over geological time the river has grown by the depositing of sediment at its mouth. Approximately 230 million tons of sediment is dumped annually into the river (Lane). With the growing river came more and more flooding, in the 1700’s people began building flood protection levees to protect their homes and families. As the levees grew larger, the “wild” nature of the river was restricted. Levees provided the needed flood protection, yet prevented vital land building sediments from replenishing and elevating deteriorating marshes. The result was increased areas of open water and higher rates of erosion. Additional alterations have compounded the problem. The dredging of canals for improved access and navigation has accelerated saltwater intrusion. Combined with natural causes, these forces result in the loss of 24 square miles of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands each year (Lane). Restrictions of the levees and increased barge traffic have endangered natural wetlands. Preservation leads to the National Wildlife Refuge System, which was established to help fight pollution in the Mississippi River. There is at least one designated National Wildlife Refuge in each of the 50 states (Feral).


 * The start of the National Wildlife Refuge System **

One June 7, 1924, the National Wildlife Refuge was established by an Act of Congress as a refuge and breeding place for migratory birds, fish, other wild life, and plants (Hultman, 1). “Original acreages for the project were acquired through purchases, donation, and by withdrawal from the public domain” (Lindell). The function of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to manage bodies of water as well as areas of land where wildlife, fish and plants are endanger of becoming extinct. The National Wildlife Refuge of the Upper Mississippi River includes roughly 240,000 acres (Hultman, 1). “Its boundaries are the longest of any refuge in the lower 48 states, for it extends hundreds of miles along the river in four states – Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois” (Lindell). The Upper Mississippi Refuge is important for protecting diverse wildlife, including 306 species of birds, 119 species of fish, 51 species of mammals, and 42 species of mussels (Hultman, 1). Major initiatives in the evolution of the National Wildlife Refuge System include the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918), the Upper Mississippi River Wild Life and Fish Refuge (1924), Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (1928), the Duck Stamp Act (1934), the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (1934), the Fish and Wildlife Act (1956), Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971), the Endangered Species Act (1973) and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act (1997) (Feral).

The Upper Mississippi Valley is an important migration route for birds. Thousands of tundra swans stop at the Upper Mississippi Valley during the spring flight. A large number of canvasbacks use the refuge, particularly during the fall migration. The Mississippi River bottoms are visited continuously by the wood duck. Thousands of these birds feed in the protected muddy holes along the Mississippi River. Beavers as well as bald eagles, our state symbol, live and nest along the river and backwaters of the Mississippi River (Lindell). In 1903, the Refuge system had its commencement when President Theodore Roosevelt set aside Pelican Island in Florida as a refuge and breeding ground for birds (Feral). This was the start of the Refuge system becoming the world’s largest land set aside for wildlife.


 * Other associated [National Wildlife] Refuge Systems **

Associated with the [National Wildlife] Refuge is the Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. The Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge consists of 8,373 acres that are divided into four separate divisions: Big Timber, Louisa, Keithsburg, and Horseshoe Band (FWS). The three divisions, Big Timber, Louisa, and Keithsburg are all positioned in the flood plain of the Mississippi River, whereas the Horseshoe Bend is at the Iowa River floodplain (FWS). Each of the Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge divisions all have exclusive characteristics. The Louisa division is “the most intensively managed via water-level manipulation, controlled burning, grassland management, and tree planting activities” (FWS). The Big Timber is a “forested backwater slough open to the Mississippi River” (FWS) compared to the Keithsburg division that also is a ‘forested backwater slough’ but levees off of the Mississippi River. The Horseshoe Bend, the newest division of the four, is being returned to its natural state. Bring back its native vegetation, as well as “bottomland hardwoods, wetlands, and native prairie” (FWS) opening up to floodwaters of the Iowa River. The Iowa River Corridor is run by the Iowa Department of National Resources in collaboration with the National Wildlife Refuge System (FWS).

Also adjoined to the Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge is Lake Odessa State Wildlife Management Area taking up about 10 square miles of [public] land right off the Mississippi River. “Because the Odessa-Louisa Complex is dedicated to providing ample habitat for animals and plants and caters mainly to boat recreation, it offers only one designated hiking trail (Hill, 75).The trails that are provided by the Odessa-Louisa Complex provide wonderful walking areas to view migrating birds and also a diversity of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.

In 1930 the federal government began construction of a series of locks and dams on the Mississippi River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for maintaining the navigational channel for open boat traffic and controlling the flooding of adjoining cultivated land (Hill, 76). Once the completion of the system that was to control the flooding and traffic, the federal government obtained land along the Mississippi River and established a unit known as the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge. The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge takes up almost 45,000 acres spreading along the Mississippi, Illinois, and Iowa Rivers. These refuges just like Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge are there to manage the area and create a wetland habitat for birds to nest and migrate.


 * What types of birds migrate through the Mississippi River? **

For thousands of years, every fall and spring, the Mississippi River passageway provides a migration route for millions of birds such as ducks, geese, shorebirds, songbirds, hawks, and gulls. “Waterfowl provide spectacular seasonal flights with thousands of mallards, pintail, widgeon, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, scaup, shoveler, gadwall, canvasback, Canada geese, and snow geese common on the [National Wildlife] Refuge” (FWS). One of the well-known ducks to nest at the [National Wildlife] Refuge is the [vibrantly colored] wood duck. Other birds vary from to the wild turkey, bobwhite, belted kingfisher, cardinal, red-headed woodpecker, and the great-horned owl all can be seen at the [National Wildlife] Refuge all year; but also a variety of other wildlife live on the [National Wildlife] Refuge, they are deer, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, foxes, muskrats, beavers, fish, frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes (FWS).


 * Recent Studies of the Mississippi River after WWII **

Concerns regarding Mississippi River pollution first emerged after World War II as significant impacts to water quality began to accrue from an increasing human population, persistent use of agricultural chemicals, and an expanding industrial river complex. Scientists had documented serious water quality impacts from a variety of pollutants. Harmful environmental effects included mortality and population declines in both fish and wildlife resources. Because the quality of water was become so horrible, it was thought best to establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), their main target was the control and regulation of pollutants and overall nationwide water improvement.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Recent studies show that the Mississippi River shows healthy fish populations, including important recreational and commercial species such as bass, catfish, northern pike, and musky. These fish plus the hundreds more that call the Mississippi their home were analyzed for over 100 toxins and the concentrations were relatively low, most of which were undetected. The levels of toxins that were found were at very low concentrations, falling below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration standard of edible fish.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">While most of the available evidence suggests that the water quality of the Mississippi River is returning to normal, there are still concerns about a variety of contaminants including nutrients, pesticides, trace metals, bacteria, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential to marine and freshwater environments. Some nutrient load from the Mississippi River is vital to maintaining the productivity of the extremely valuable fisheries. About 40% of the U.S fisheries landings come from this productive zone influenced by the nutrient rich Mississippi. This nitrogen comes from most corn production states of the upper basin. When the amount of nutrients in the Mississippi River reaches a high state, then we have a problem. It can cause impacts such as excessive algae growth, which drastically lowers the oxygen levels in the river and ultimately diminishes the sunlight penetration, causing the temperature of the river to go down. Along with the oxygen levels going down, this can cause an increase in organism death, which in turn causes an almost complete lack of oxygen.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The change river ecology has had on mussels **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">With the changes in the river ecology due to contamination, it has had a dramatic influence on fishery and mussel resources. Mussels have been impacted by pollution but not only by pollution but also harvest, sedimentation, loss of free-flowing habitat, reduction in species-specific host fish, and zebra mussels (Hultman, 15). Zebra mussels are like a parasite; they attach themselves to a host and use their resources. There are 297 types of freshwater mussels in the United States. A Conservation Plan on behalf of Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Mississippi River system says, “No other group of animals in North America is in such grave danger” of declining population or extinction (Hultman, 66). In the United States alone, 55 percent of Freshwater Mussels are in danger of extinction. And 25 percent of Freshwater Mussels are living stably. What’s responsible to the leading cause of their extinction is due to over-exploitation, water pollution and habitat adaptation.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Traces of bacteria in the Mississippi River have drastically decreased over time. Much of this improvement can be attributed to the addition and upgrading of municipal sewage treatment facilities, septic systems, and animal waste management systems all along the river. The nearest one to us is on the Rock Island Arsenal. Trace metals are also one of our least main concerns because the levels of metals in the Mississippi River are very low and fall below the standards for drinking water and water capable of maintaining aquatic life. Fish were also being tested for trace metals and the amounts found in fish were minuscule and did not exceed the FDA standard for edible fish.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The impact the National Wildlife Refuge has done to help clean-up the Mississippi River

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">“Today the Upper Mississippi Refuge consists of about 200,000 acres of wooded islands, waters, and marshes extending more than 260 miles southward along the river bottoms from Wabasha, Minnesota, to nearly Rock Island, Illinois” (Lindell). What the Mississippi River Refuge brings to people’s attention is that we have the ability to preserve scenic, recreational, and wildlife resources in our modern world. As of 2008, the National Wildlife Refuge System protects 95,972,133 acres of land and 23,952,089 acres of water, including 75 wilderness areas and 20,699,257 total acreages (Feral).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Mississippi River is much cleaner today than it was 50 plus years ago, yet there are still concerns that the river may retreat back to when it was bad. Nutrient and herbicide problems should still remain in the public view and should never be forgotten about because there is a chance; it is currently happening right now, that a freak accident may cause a dramatic flux in the quality of the water. There is a major oil spill that will have an effect on the aquatic environment; many organisms will die because of it. Precautions and other necessary steps are being taken to clean up the oil and return the quality of the Mississippi River back to normal.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Steps that we can take to minimize the amount of pollutants that are being dumped into the river range from using environmentally friendly soaps, using fertilizers and other garden products according to their respective instructions, properly disposing of pet feces and having a professional change your oil.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The National Wildlife Refuge brought great attention to society. For those who wished to sight see the migration of birds got a chance to do so in a healthy environment. The Refuge brought more homes to mammals, birds, and other forms of wildlife. Without the Refuge, more wildlife would be extinct then what is today.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Works Cited **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Drew Barker, __ [|www.marines.mil]  __, Marine Corp, 08/20/2005, Marine Corp Base Camp, 05/10/2010.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lane, R.R and J.W. Day (1999), Water Quality Analysis, Louisiana: Vol. 22, pg 327-336.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Meade, R.R (1996), Contaminants in the Mississippi River: 1987-92 U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, 1996.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Feral, Zach. //What is the National Wildlife Refuge?// N.p., 6 May 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/about_6466650_national-wildlife-refuge_.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hill, Elizabeth Corcoran. //Hiking Iowa//. Connecticut: American Hiking Society, 2005. //books.google.com//. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://books.google.com/books?id=-OfbeIKKgvYC&pg=PA75&dq=Port+Louisa+National+Wildlife+Refuge&hl=en&ei=icGbTZr9G-6C0QG26N3lAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Port%20Louisa%20National%20Wildlife%20Refuge&f=false>.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Lindell, John. “U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.” //Upper Mississippi Refuge//. McGregor District Office, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://www.iowageology.org/gb70/Refuge.htm>.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">. N.p., 5 Apr. 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=33630>.

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