Conservation department looking at buying Marquette Island

Marquette Island is 835 acres of cottonwoods, willow and sand just south of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

The island was formed from the deposition of silt as the Mississippi River was reined in for navigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its sands are nesting grounds for the endangered least tern. Cape Bend Chute, which runs on the east side of the island, provides slackwater shelter for endangered fish such as the pallid sturgeon.

And it could become the latest addition to the Missouri Department of Conservation's landholdings if the department accepts a $242,699 federal grant to help acquire the property. But because the grant, announced this week, is only one-third of the amount requested, no decision has been made on how to handle the money, said Peggy Horner, a wildlife program supervisor with the conservation department.

"Right now we don't quite have our ducks in a row," Horner said. "It was actually for partial funding. We are not quite sure what we are going to do."

The island is one of seven of identified as a "string of pearls" several years ago by the Middle Mississippi River Partnership as environmentally important properties. The partnership, a coalition of 16 public and private agencies, works to promote the environmental health of the river.

Joyce Collins, left, Todd Strole and June Jeffries watch least tern birds on Marquette Island on the Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau on June 20, 2007, during the River Resources Action Team Environmental Coordination Trip hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The three represent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, The Nature Conservancy and the Corps of Engineers, respectively, several of the governmental and nongovernmental entities trying to coordinate efforts on the river. (Kit Doyle)

The American Land Conservancy, a private ecological group, has been acting as the agent in the land purchases and helped last year when the conservation department purchased 705-acre Windy Bar Island north of Cape Girardeau. Marquette Island would complement that acquisition and is close enough to Windy Bar to allow effective management of the land, said Jenny Frazier, director of the conservancy's Mississippi River Program.

"We look at areas that have critical habitat that are in proximity to other publicly owned areas so management efforts can be consolidated," said Frazier, a resident of Bollinger County. "We also look at areas that have a potential to bring outside dollars to the a region through recreation and tourism."

Both Marquette Island and Windy Bar Island provide public access to river habitat for the Cape Girardeau area, Frazier said.

But Marquette Island remains in private ownership and, until the funding for purchases is assured, no titles will change hands, Frazier said. The conservancy has options on part of the island and is in active negotiations with owners to set a price for the remainder, she said.

"It is like with any of our projects, it is kind of a building process," Frazier said. "We are at a variety of different stages with different landowners."

When a decision on whether to accept the grant is made, the first property owner to have agreed to sell will be the first one to be paid, Frazier said. "If we get more funding, more transactions will be completed."

The grant was the second regional priority for the federal agency's grants under the Recovery Lands Acquistion Grants Program, Horner said. The grant amount represents the money left over after the first priority was funded, she added. The top priority, a project to protect snake habitat in Ohio and Michigan, received $488,200.

"Because it is not full funding, we may not accept the grant at all," Horner said.

Department administrators will make that decision in coming weeks, she said. The conservation department has a policy that it will not spend state tax dollars for land purchases unless the property complements or in some other way enhances an existing conservation area.

"We may know a little more in a week or two," Horner said. "We haven't even had a chance to talk with the American Land Conservancy except a slap on the back. They are doing all the work with the landowners and we really appreciate their partnership."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, Cape Girardeau, Mo.