ILLINOIS, IOWA, MINNESOTA & WISCONSIN: UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE & FISH REFUGE

Site Location and Description

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge (NW&FR) is an enormous refuge covering more than 200,000 acres and spanning more than 261 miles of the Mississippi River Valley in four states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois). Largely confined to the flood plain, with boundaries stretching for hundreds of miles, the refuge contains marshes, bottomland hardwoods, open water, sand prairie, and wooded bluffs, as well as varied climatic conditions.

Ecological Values

Considered an Important Bird Area, this unique area boasts approximately 300 species of birds, 57 species of mammals, 53 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 154 species of fish. The refuge provides habitat for a large percentage of the Mississippi Flyway's migratory birds, including an estimated 40 percent of the continental waterfowl population. Up to 60 percent of North America's population of tundra swans and up to 50 percent of the world's population of canvasback ducks rest and feed on the refuge during their annual migrations. The refuge also provides vital habitat to a variety of Neotropical migratory birds, as well as to the threatened bald eagle and the peregrine falcon.

Public Use and Benefit to the Community

The Upper Mississippi River NW&FR receives nearly 3.5 million visitors each year, which is by far the most of any unit in the Refuge System and greater than the number of annual visits to Yellowstone National Park. Visitors enjoy year-round activities such as fishing, boating, scenic drives along the Great River Road, picnicking, camping at modern or primitive campgrounds, and hunting on 160,000 acres of the refuge.

Threats

Upland areas and valuable backwaters that are critical for both resident species and Neotropical migrants are threatened by residential, commercial, and agricultural development. Specific threats include logging of bottomland hardwood timber, mining of gravel deposits, and sedimentation.

There is an increasingly urgent need to acquire these tracts now, before they are lost forever to development in this busy Midwestern landscape. The availability of these areas for purchase in future years is questionable; moreover, degradation of these valuable plots by commercial interests is likely to occur before they become available again for purchase.

Acquisition Status

Acquisition of approximately 30,000 acres will complete the boundaries identified in the refuge's Master Plan. Proposed acquisition areas include small, scattered inholdings, which range in size from one to 6,000 acres. FY06 purchases would begin to help fulfill this plan by adding six properties totaling 500 acres to the refuge. An FY06 allocation of $600,000 would secure final purchase of the following six sites, of which last year’s allotment of $400,000 could not cover: high-quality upland fields in Wabasha County, MN; 80 acres of wetlands, including emergent marshes and a backwater slough, in Winona County, MN; 100 acres of bottomland hardwood habitat in Clayton County, IA; 96 acres of marsh bordering the Black River in Onalaska, WI; and 73 acres of floodplain forest along the East Channel of the Mississippi River in La Crosse, WI.

Public Support

The refuge receives strong support from the Izaak Walton League, the Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Campaign, and the National Audubon Society's Upper Mississippi River Campaign, as well as from the Zumbro Valley, Dubuque, Northwestern Illinois, Coulee Region, and Upper Iowa Audubon Societies.

Habitat

Freshwater marsh
Bottomland hardwood forest
Open water
Sand prairie

Species

Red-shouldered Hawk
Bald Eagle
Prothonotary Warbler
Great-crested Flycatcher
White Pelicans
Tundra Swans
Canvasback Ducks
Palm warbler
Bell's vireo
Cerulean warbler
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Indigo bunting
Pileated woodpecker
Bufflehead duck
Spotted sandpiper
Wood duck
River Otter