OUTDOOR CORNER: MAN TRIES TO FIND WAYS TO CO-EXIST WITH MISSISSIPPI

What do you think of when someone mentions the Mississippi River?

Do you think of a wide, pristine, shallow river, with numerous side channels, oxbows, and islands that support an abundant, diverse fish community? Probably not.

How about a large channelized, heavily polluted river with only a few hardy fish? Hopefully not.

Reality is somewhere in between. The river has suffered considerable alterations, but it still contains diverse habitats and supports an abundant fish community. In short, it was and still is a tremendous natural resource which all Americans should take pride in and help protect. We're going to take a closer look at the river today and then look into the crystal ball and see what the future holds in store for Old Man River.

The river flows 2,337 miles from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, below New Orleans, Louisiana and drains about 40% of the continental United States. It is the largest river in North America and the 9th largest river in the world.

The river has many uses today which benefit society. Barge transportation carries tons of grain, coal, timber, rock and a myriad of other commodities. This is an economical method of transporting goods. Therefore, navigation is vitally important to our nation's economy.

Commercial fishing supports many families financially up and down the river and provides high quality food. Recreational or sport anglers gain much enjoyment and relaxation from fishing the river.

However, the river can cause problems, even massive destruction. Floods can cause tremendous damage to communities, businesses and agricultural crops, resulting in millions of dollars worth of damages. We only have to look back to the Great Flood of 1993 to remember the devastation which occurred.

Before human intervention, the river actually was wide and shallow, with numerous side channels, oxbows and islands. The river has undergone quite a change in the last few centuries to accommodate society's needs. Twenty nine locks and dams were constructed above St. Louis in the 1930s to improve navigation, while dikes, closing structures, and rip-rap reveted banks are used to maintain a 9-foot deep navigation channel below St. Louis. Levees have been constructed along much of the river to protect from flooding.

Now let's take a closer look at the alterations that have taken place, and see how they affect us and the environment.

Dikes, or rock jetties that divert the flow away from the bank, have caused the main channel to become narrower and deeper. Side channels and islands have been lost or degraded because of dikes and closing structures. These areas are vitally important habitats for fish and birds and the loss of these habitats adversely impacts many species.

Numerous fish species spawn in the quiet waters away from the main channel and their young use these areas to grow. Some species such as largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill prefer these habitats throughout their lives. Least terns, an endangered bird, use sand islands for nesting and rearing.

Levees have been constructed along much of the river to protect communities and agricultural land from floods. Before levees were constructed, floodwater would rise and fall, slowly filling the bottomlands, or floodplain, adjacent to the river. Floodwater would deposit nutrients and sediment onto the floodplain, which made these areas some of the most productive in the world.

These large expanses of flooded land provided important spawning, rearing, and feeding areas for many species of fish. These areas also provided important feeding areas for waterfowl and shorebirds. Floodplains that were open to the river stored floodwater, thus keeping the flood height from getting too high.

Look at it this way. Take a coffee cup and fill it with tapwater. Then pour it into a baking pan. It's the same amount of water, but it is much shallower because the water is allowed to spread out over a greater area. Since very few floodplains remain that are still connected to the river, the flood peaks are now higher than before. When this occurs, levees can break which results in a tremendous amount of water rushing through the levee-break onto the land, causing great destruction. Again, remember the Great Flood of 1993.

There is hope because there are many groups working to help the river. The Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee and Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee are two groups of state and federal agencies which are working cooperatively to protect and improve the river environment, while still supporting navigation, flood control, and other uses of the river.

Many other environmental groups are also working to protect the river. Senator Kit Bond and Representatives Kenny Hulshof and Pat Danner of Missouri recently introduced legislation to "enhance, preserve, and protect habitat for fish and wildlife on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers." Bond said "Fish and Wildlife conservation and commercial activity are not mutually exclusive.

Indeed, we cannot afford to abandon either river commerce or the species that live in and on the river. This new approach is a win-win-win for man, nature, and the river."

What does the future hold for the river? That's for every one of us to decide. Each of us needs to look in the mirror and decide how far as a society we should go to control the river. I think we would all agree that protecting communities and agricultural lands is very important.

However, we have some tough decisions to make. Should we build levees even bigger and stronger? Should we continue to support projects that block off more of the river's floodplain, which will result in further habitat destruction to fish and wildlife habitat and cause floods to rise higher?

Many argue that we should restore more of the river's floodplain, allowing floodwater to move onto the land, thus reducing the height of floods. Others argue that this would destroy valuable crops, which is true. Is there a better solution? We can't stop floods, but if we allow floodplains to function naturally and still protect our communities, then maybe we'll be better off in the future.

Landowners could manage for waterfowl and lease their land to hunters, enroll flood-prone land in the Wetland Reserve Program, begin an agro-forestry program for timber production, or use the land in a manner that is compatible with seasonal flooding. I truly believe that commerce, navigation and flood control issues are not mutually exclusive with environmental issues.

If we compromise and work together, and are willing to try new approaches to managing the river, we will all win and the mighty Mississippi River will remain a national treasure we can all be proud to pass along to the next generation.

Mark Boone is a fisheries management biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.