After Lewis and Clark ended their journey westward in 1806, an expedition known as the Corps of Discovery, the Missouri River would prove to be a vital link between the east and west. Flowing right through the heartland, the Missouri River is the longest river in the U.S. and is an important economic resource to the region, the nation and the world.
Before the Missouri River became the navigation hub it is today, it was an untamed, wild body of water prone to flooding, known for changing paths, with a floodplain as wide as a mile in some places. By the late 19th century, the government realized the value the river could have on westward expansion and began the process of taming the river.
The Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project aims to stabilize the river by establishing a 9-foot by 300-foot-wide navigation channel on 735 miles of the river. This is done by using river structures known as dikes and revetments.
“You can say that the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] has been on the Missouri River for a significant period of time,” said John Skelton, natural resource manager for the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project at the Missouri River Project Office. “They started doing significant channelization … [using] dikes and revetments … to pen in the channel.”
While these river structures have been successful in stabilizing the navigation channel, there have been consequences to their construction.
“You have these structures … to build up the floodplain and over time that fills up with silt … and the next thing you know, you can farm it,” said Skelton. “But what happened to the wetlands and all the species that called that home?”
‘They’re displaced’
After acknowledging native habitat was being destroyed and wildlife was being displaced because of federal projects, multiple pieces of legislation were passed directing the federal government to mitigate for lost habitat and displaced wildlife. Congress authorized the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project in the 1980s and USACE has been working to acquire land and develop aquatic and terrestrial habitat along the river ever since.
“The goal is to provide habitat, but the issue is we have a landscape that is significantly modified,” said Skelton. “We have a different hydrograph so we need to be able to … provide something that resembles habitat that could be utilized by species that would have been out there.”
This is no easy feat, for several reasons. First, in order to establish terrestrial mitigation for the program, land must be publically owned and accessible. Much of the 522,000 acres of lost habitat resulting from the past channelization efforts is not owned by the federal government or otherwise considered public land., USACE has been able to perform d a little less than half of the 166,750 acres of mitigation authorized along the river.
“It is a slow process. Anytime you’re talking about government acquisition and real estate, it is a slower process,” said Skelton. “If someone’s interested in selling, a lot of times they’ll just give us a call.”
Second, it can be difficult to determine how best to modify it to mitigate for lost habitat and wildlife. The Missouri River has eight congressionally authorized purposes including navigation, irrigation, flood control, water supply, water quality, recreation, hydropower and fish and wildlife.
“There’s so many different stakeholder interests that it’s a balancing act,” said Mitch Roberts, operations project manager at the Missouri River Project Office.
Third, of the 498 river miles the Kansas City District manages, there is only one person who manages the habitat of the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project.
“We have over 41,000 acres in our mitigation project. [John Skelton] manages all of the lease agreements, goes out and does inspections and identifies where we need to work on signs or boundaries, all that kind of stuff,” said Roberts.
‘What are the goals?’
Once USACE acquires public land for the purpose of habitat and wildlife mitigation, there are several different ways the land can be modified and managed. Rather than seeing the various options as a challenge, both Skelton and Roberts see it as an opportunity.
“Mitigation is a lot of different things and I think one of those things is diversity,” said Roberts.
Mitigation can include planting native species, creating food plots for wildlife or establishing wetlands, which are not only a native habitat but can also help reduce flooding. While much of the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Project’s priority has been focused on aquatic habitat and wildlife, the focus on terrestrial mitigation is increasing.
“In our area of responsibility for [the Kansas City District,] a lot of the focus has been on the aquatic side,” said Roberts. “But there’s growing momentum for more active management on the terrestrial sites.”
Ultimately, the goal of the mitigation project is to modify the land back to something that resembles its original state. The theory is once the land is in a more natural state, it will encourage native species to return and thrive.
“We’re doing habitat so if you build it, hopefully they show up,” said Skelton. “We have to mitigate the negative impacts. We’re trying to provide something that would be a semblance of the vegetation that would have occurred [naturally.]”
While mitigating the negative impacts the past channelization project had on habitat and wildlife is one of the primary goals, there is another benefit of the Bank Stabilization and Navigation Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Project with which it is not often associated.
“Mitigation areas should provide a lot of things,” said Roberts. “We should be managing them to try and give back some native species, … help areas that could be flooded, … provide a place for wildlife to come in … and I think a big thing people forget is the opportunity for public recreation. Whether it’s bird watching, whether it’s hunting, whether it’s being able to access the river and go fishing, hiking, all of those things.”
‘This is an opportunity for us’
Even when land has been acquired, has been modified to mitigate for lost habitat and Skelton has the time and resources to manage it, there still exist challenges. The sites, often prone to flooding, can be modified and managed, but Mother Nature will still have the final say in what happens.
“Sometimes it can feel like a never-ending uphill battle,’ said Skelton. “But we can’t let those types of things always deter us from doing something.”
Although it’s challenging, Skelton remains positive the work he’s doing will ultimately make a difference. For him, success of the mitigation project can be measured by seeing native species thrive in areas once destroyed by the past channelization project.
“Anything native that I see … that’s what keeps me going,” said Skelton.
For Roberts, knowing he is helping provide opportunities for both native species and the public helps him stay positive when things get tough.
“For me, success overall on the project is … actively working to develop native species and diversity, and through those practices we are providing good recreation opportunities for the public because it’s their land,” said Roberts. “If we can do those things, then that’s the ultimate success that I see.”