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AUDUBON'S MISSISSIPPI RIVER STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES
The National Audubon Society is pursuing a Mississippi River - Headwaters to Gulf - Campaign, with three key goals:
- Improve the function and ecological health and viability of the Mississippi River System, headwaters to gulf. Our measure of success will be reversal of population declines among vulnerable bird species in four key habitats: bottomland forests, coastal zones, emergent wetlands, and urban areas.
- Improve the function and stability of the wetlands and waters of the Louisiana Coast. Our measures of success will be restoration of the natural flow and function of the mouth of the river, and reversal of the rapid loss of wetlands along the Louisiana coast, now put at 16,000 acres annually.
- Improve water quality. Our measures of success will be reduction in the flow of nutrients along the river's length, and reduction of the resulting hypoxia, or "Dead Zone," in the Gulf of Mexico.
THE NEED: One River Ecosystem, from the Headwaters to the Gulf
The Mississippi River Basin drains about 40% of the area of the lower 48 states, making it the largest watershed in the country. Up to 90% of all freshwater entering the Gulf of Mexico comes from the Mississippi River. Taken together, the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico encompass more than 40 million acres of large river floodplain, coastal wetlands and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Approximately 60% of all North American bird species depend upon the River's habitats, including 40% of all waterfowl and shorebirds that migrate along the Mississippi flyway. Birds are telling us something is wrong with the Mississippi River Basin. More than a few species are declining seriously. The population of Ring-necked Ducks using the upper Mississippi stood at 400,000 in 1979. Today, the estimate is under 50,000. Similarly, Rusty Blackbirds, which winter in the bottomland forests of the lower river after nesting in the boreal forests of Canada, have declined more than 90% in the last 40 years. Chimney Swifts, which nest in urban areas and use the river corridor in their migrations to and from the Amazon Basin, have declined more than 40 percent during the same period.
Threats to the Mississippi River Basin are primarily related to sediment, pollution, and habitat alteration:
- Sediment
Perhaps the most vulnerable points in the river system are the Louisiana coastal wetlands where the river enters the gulf. These coastal wetlands comprise one of the most important wetland ecosystems in the world. Totaling over 3 million acres, this area includes 25% of the nation's wetlands, and 40% of the country's salt marshes outside of Alaska. For eons, the Louisiana coast has benefited from the natural cycle of sediment-laden spring flows from the Mississippi Basin that re-nourished these wetlands to maintain a dynamic balance. Today, 29 locks and dams trap significant portions of that sediment upstream, and the 1,500 miles of levees channel what sediment that remains directly to the Gulf. As a result, the Louisiana coast is rapidly sinking into the Gulf, as the re-nourishing sediments no longer pass through the coastal marshes and wetlands. Some 16,000 acres of wetlands are lost there every year, totaling 80% of all wetland losses nationally. We have now seen the human and ecological cost of this increased vulnerability to major storms like Hurricane Katrina.
- Pollution
All municipal, industrial and agricultural runoff from the entire river basin is eventually deposited into the Gulf near the Louisiana Coast.
This polluted runoff, which is no longer being trapped in coastal wetlands and wetlands throughout the river system that are isolated by levees, has produced a massive "Dead Zone" off the Louisiana coast. This "dead zone" has averaged nearly 5,000 square miles - an area almost the size of the state of Connecticut - each year since 1985, and engulfed 8,500 square miles in 2002.
- Habitat Alteration
The Mississippi River and its major tributaries have been significantly altered for flood control and to support navigation. As a result, virtually all of the Mississippi floodplain has been developed, drained or modified. Over 90% of the floodplains are blocked by levees, making landowners dependent on the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, and destroying floodplain-associated habitats such as Bottomland Forests critical to many species of migrating birds and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. The majority of America's grain and 92% of its agricultural exports are transported on the Mississippi River navigation system, also managed by the Corps.
Habitat is also altered by oil and gas pipelines and associated energy development along the Louisiana Coast; the region delivers about 25% of the nation's energy supplies each year. Removal of underground oil and gas accelerates natural subsidence. A massive complex of canals has been dredged to service this energy infrastructure. These canals hasten erosion from storms, and encourage saltwater intrusion further inland, accelerating the die-off of critical soil-stabilizing wetland vegetation.
These threats to the Mississippi River basin affect more than birds and wildlife. They affect jobs, the economy, and public safety. About a quarter of the nation's seafood catch outside of Alaska comes from the gulf. Despite a sinking Louisiana coast that is rapidly eroding inland, more people continue to move toward the coast. Three million people now live along the Louisiana coast, and 90% of them in homes less than three feet above sea level. Further, the massive oil and gas pipeline infrastructure along the coast is increasingly vulnerable to storm surges as subsidence continues. And, as the hypoxia Dead Zone grows and critical tidal wetland habitat erodes, coastal fisheries decline.
THE OPPORTUNITY: Restoring the Great River Ecosystem
Now is the time to act. Several once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to restore ecological damage and prevent further harm to the river and prevent species losses are before us. These include navigation studies and accompanying restoration plans on the upper river; the first comprehensive environmental assessment of the lower river reaches; a restoration plan for the Louisiana coast whose need has now been highlighted by the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina; and the 2007 Farm Bill which may include more funding for land conservation then ever before.
Audubon's Mississippi River - Headwaters to Gulf - Campaign will be the largest and most complex environmental restoration project ever undertaken, matching the international importance of the resources at risk. While the engineering challenges are daunting, they are not the most difficult. The most important challenge is building and maintaining public support for each component of the overall restoration plan. This internationally important ecosystem can only be restored and protected if the political will exists to make it a priority. The political will exists only if there is a constituency mobilized to take action.
Audubon is already in the eighth year of an advocacy and education campaign to protect the Upper Mississippi River. We have emerged as the leader in building public support to restore nearly 1,400 miles of the upper river in a five-state region. Through our education and outreach, people are coming to realize that the river is one system.
The recent rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker presents
a unique moment of hope, and a tremendous opportunity to announce
a call to action for the river system as a whole. Audubon
is poised to significantly increase its investment in the
Mississippi, with a comprehensive, ten-state river restoration
initiative, marshaling the full force of the organization's
state offices, chapters, and key national staff. With Chapters
or state programs in every state in the Mississippi River
basin, we are well-placed to galvanize public and legislative
support for a long-term coordinated restoration program. Further,
our comprehensive three-tiered approach to conservation through
policy, science, and education is the soundest way to address
the complex issues of this vital ecosystem.
Four Strategies for Success
- Policy: As a national conservation organization, we will advocate for the creation and implementation of an ecosystem restoration plan.
- Science: We will lead efforts to protect and restore the river through the use of the Important Bird Areas program to identify key habitat needs and threats, as one of the components of the restoration plan.
- Education: Engaging people in order to maintain a well-informed and active constituency through our Audubon Centers, education programs, the award-winning Audubon magazine, and through the growing use of interactive Internet tools.
- Infrastructure: Building and maintaining a sustainable infrastructure, partnerships and public support for the restoration plan.
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