The Upper Mississippi River Forest Partnership |
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Bottomland Forest Restoration Reference SitesThe Mississippi River is the largest river in North America and the third largest river system in the world. The river supports an abundance of wildlife. A key component of this wildlife habitat is where the water meets the land, the floodplain ecosystem. The Upper Mississippi River floodplain is a mosaic of bottomland forest, grasslands, islands, backwaters, side channels, and wetlands. But this system is not as diverse as it once was due to the navigation structures installed starting the 1930’s, logging, clearing for agriculture, and numerous levees that disconnect the river from the floodplain. Land managers are actively trying to remedy this situation by improving the conditions of existing floodplain and restoring forest, prairies, and wetlands where feasible. In support of these efforts the Upper Mississippi Forest Partnership bottomland forest working group set out to identify bottomland forest “reference sites.” These high-quality bottomland forest areas can:
State forestry agency partners were asked to identify bottomland forest areas that are outstanding natural communities, provide wildlife habitat, have functioning natural processes, and meet a minimum 20-acre size requirement (the size requirement could be waived in cases of smaller, high quality areas). Reference areas are identified by state. Illinois Iowa Minnesota Missouri
Wisconsin |
