Birds rest, feed at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

Originally published on March 23, 2011 in the Omaha World Herald
Click here for original link
by Mike Brownlee

photo - Mike Davis, Omaha World Herald

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa — Waterfowl and other migratory birds are making a brief stop on the 7,500 acres of wetlands, forest, lakes and ponds at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on the Missouri River north of Omaha.

“The Missouri River valley, historically, has been a migration corridor,” said Tom Cox, refuge manager. “I liken it to a family vacation trip. And we're like a hotel and restaurant for migration.

“We provide an area for them to rest and replenish fat reserves. So when they hit their nesting spot up north they're ready for breeding. They need to be healthy for breeding and hatching.”

Bald eagles usually migrate along with the geese, feasting on the frail, and Cox said many have been seen on the refuge.

The waterfowl northern migration season began toward the end of February, Cox said, and ends in early April. During the peak days in early March, there were about 50,000 ducks and geese at the refuge.

Agreement seeks to balance Missouri River wildlife management with water quality needs

(this article was published in the Jan. 15 edition of the Missouri News Horizon. Here's the direct link, which includes a video interview with US EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks: http://monewshorizonblog.org/2011/01/agreement-seeks-to-balance-missouri-river-wildlife-management-with-water-quality-needs/)

January 15, 2011 by Rebecca Townsend  
Missouri News Horizon

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Efforts to build habitat for the endangered pallid sturgeon also add to the nutrient load of the Missouri River, feeding the hypoxic area known as the dead-zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

In examining the challenge of having to comply with the potentially conflicting mandates of the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, officials from four federal agencies came to an agreement, finalized Tuesday, to monitor all Army Corps of Engineers-constructed shallow water habitats to demonstrate the costs and benefits of the projects on both water quality and fish populations. Using scientific guidance from a recent National Academy of Sciences report on sediment management in the river, agency officials hope to establish a science-based blueprint from which employees can bolster endangered species populations without negative effects on water quality.