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Upper Mississippi River Initiative>
About
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
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Our
vision is that the Upper Mississippi River and its watershed
be a place where people prosper and birds, fish and wildlife
thrive in a healthy environment.
The Audubon Upper Mississippi River
Initiative, initiated in 1998, is working for protection and
restoration of the river's ecosystem while also supporting
the continued economic vitality of the river communities and
the river navigation system.
We are focusing on the portion of
the river from its headwaters at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota
to the confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, IL. Learn
more>
Audubon is Bringing Back the Birds!
You can see the river habitat and
the birds it supports at any of the nearly 500 places along
the Mississippi that we have mapped as part of the amazing
Great River Birding Trail. With
your help we will complete the remaining maps and continue
to make them available to thousands of people from all over
the world. In this way we are building a constituency for
the birds and their habitat.
Audubon is Restoring the River's
Health and Habitat
Through the Important Bird Areas program Audubon is involved
in actual habitat protection and monitoring projects for birds
along this great flyway. Through the IBA program Audubon has
already identified nearly 150 places along the river and the
nearby Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana that we are
evaluating for long-term protection. The habitat varies, but
includes floodplain forests, backwater marshes, winding side
channels, large expanses of open water and coastal wetlands.
At those sites that actually become part of the official system
of Audubon IBAs, we will then take an active role in developing
conservation plans and monitoring programs to protect and
restore habitat. This is exciting hands-on work that often
will be done in partnership with others organizations, agencies
and landowners.
Many of the currently identified sites are within federal
wildlife refuges, state parks and national forests. Success
will be measured by how well we are able to protect and restore
habitat conditions that support our migratory and resident
native bird species along the river. To learn more go to http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba/index.html.
With your support, we will continue to take direct action
to protect habitat at key sites from the Headwaters in Northern
Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.
Audubon is Seeking $5.3 Billion for
Ecosystem Restoration!
Late in 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed its
long-overdue Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program
(NESP). The draft work plan provides a framework for managing
the Upper Mississippi River for the next 50 years for both
ecosystem and navigation system values. Because of your support
and hard work the plan calls for an unprecedented program
of habitat restoration efforts along more than 800 miles of
river from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Cairo, Illinois. If this
plan is authorized and funded by Congress, we can begin to
reverse the tide of degradation to the river due to 150 years
of dikes, dams and dredging.
We need to continue to make the case to the U.S. Congress
and the Administration that the Federal Government should
fully fund and implement the plan. With
your help we will continue to be involved in this on a day-to-day
basis by seeking representation on the proposed new River
Management Council that will coordinate the implementation
of this plan. If we don’t speak for the birds on the
river who will? Visit our Join Us
page to see how you can help.
What We've Done for the River So Far
We have traveled
1,366 miles of the Upper Mississippi River by houseboat, sternwheeler
and canoe.
We have visited more than 25,000 people
in 90 communities, sharing exhibits, music and river education.
We have involved hundreds of school
children in environmental education programs.
We have taken scores of people into
the backwaters to view critical habitat, birds and wildlife.
We have conducted river cleanups in
several communities.
We have completed inventory work for
15 birding trail maps that we now distribute and hope to
partner with other organizations to to extend the "Great
River Birding Trail" to the Gulf of Mexico.
We have completed the first-ever Upper
Mississippi River Watershed Roundtable and are planning
more.
We have testified before Congress and
many agencies to emphasize that the river is a multipurpose
resource -- a rich ecological as well as economic asset
to our nation.
We will continue to work with agencies
on developing a river management plan for the Mississippi
River that will include a strategy for management of the river
for ecosystem restoration, flood control and navigation all
on equal footing.
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Make a tax-deductible contribution
Donate
online or use our gift
form to mail your contribution.
Join Us on the River
Join Audubon river guides to see
the seldom-visited reaches, side channels, and backwaters
of the Mississippi river. See events
for more information.
Become Informed and Involved
Sign up for a free subscription to
Audubon
Advisory to learn about conservation legislation and
how to communicate with your legislators.
Visit Audubon’s Issues
and Action for information about issues that affect birds,
habitat and other environmental issues. It’s a way to
stay informed so you can contact your lawmakers about the
issues you care about
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