Quad-Cities Area Rivers
Refuge creates river oasis

Quad-Cities Area Rivers Mississippi River is a major asset Q-C rivers offer nearby get-away Sears pioneered Q-C water power River advocate plans to start new `adopt-a-river' program Modernizing river transportation is good for environment, economy Refuge creates river oasis

By Brian Buehler
Dispatch/Argus Staff writer

August 12, 2000

``When I'm playful, I use the meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude for a seine, and drag the Atlantic Ocean for whales. I scratch my head with the lightning and purr myself to sleep with the thunder.''

-- Mark Twain in ``Life on the Mississippi''

Jamie Wilson / staff Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Click for an enhanced view.

Although Mr. Clemens went on to greater things, the river had a permanent impact on his life. His pseudonym, Mark Twain, was the river call for a water depth of two fathoms, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia.

The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge, a system of intermittent sanctuaries extending 340 miles along the Mississippi River from the Quad-Cities to south of St. Louis, encompasses 8,373 acres of land. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Formed in 1958 from land bought by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as easement for a proposed navigational channel in the river, the refuge was designed as a food and shelter sanctuary for migrating waterfowl.

The Fish and Wildlife Service named the refuge for the world-famous author because of his connection with that part of the river, according to Kathleen Maycroft of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The area from the Quad-Cities to Keithsburg is under jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Wapello District, headquartered south of Muscatine and managed by Ms. Maycroft.

``The refuge is an oasis along the river corridor,'' she said. ``It provides the life requisites for migrating birds.''

The Wapello District includes the Big Timber Division with 1,258 acres; the Louisa Division, 2,609 acres; the Horseshoe Bend Division, 2,606 acres; and the Keithsburg Division, 1,400 acres.

The Milan section of the refuge, called the Milan Bottoms, is in the Keithsburg Division, and encompasses several hundred acres.

The Wapello District is a mix of bottomland forest, open water, wetlands, with some divisions also including grasslands, moist soil habitats and agricultural land.

The Louisa and Horseshoe Bend divisions are the most actively managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of the Big Timber and Keithsburg divisions are under water much of the year.

The refuge is an excellent area to watch birds and other wildlife -- great blue herons, snowy egrets, turtles, and a wide variety of song birds. The Louisa division has had as many as 110,000 mallard ducks and 11,000 Canada geese in one day, Ms. Maycroft said.

The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge's uninterrupted stands of hardwood trees provide an excellent environment for a variety of song birds and raptors. The Fish and Wildlife Service said 294 species of birds have been spotted in the refuge.

While visitors are allowed to travel most of the service roads in the refuge on foot or bicycle, very little of the area is accessible by car. The Milan Bottoms has no service roads and is most easily accessed by boat.

During peak waterfowl migration, the refuge is completely closed to the public.

Wildlife enthusiasts can walk an interpretive trail near the Louisa headquarters, and tours can be arranged for schools and other groups, according to Dave Murcia, a Fish and Wildlife student intern.

However, the strongest interest in the refuge comes from fishermen, Mr. Murcia said, adding that public boat ramps are open in the Louisa and Keithsburg divisions.

Improvements are made in refuge during the summer, he said. This year, about 20 acres of prairie was restored in the Horseshoe Bend Division, bought by the government after the flood of 1993.

It was decided to turn the land over to the Fish and Wildlife Service rather than continually repair a levee protecting land owned by private residents.

Crews also restored prairie habitat in the Louisa Division. Native prairie plants provide better nourishment to migrating birds than crops like corn and soybeans, Ms. Maycroft said, adding that increasing the diversity of plant life increases the diversity of birds and other wildlife.

``We try to establish the best habitat for when the ducks get here, but you never know if they're coming or not,'' she said. There were fewer migrating birds than usual last year because of the mild winter, Ms. Maycroft said.

While the Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't do plantings in the Keithsburg area of the refuge, it does lower water levels in the summer to encourage plant growth, Ms. Maycroft said. The water is allowed to rise again in the fall to accommodate waterfowl. ``It's a minimally managed area, but it's beautiful.''

Mid- to late July is the peak season for flowering plants, including black-eyed Susans, mulleins and prairie grasses, Mr. Murcia said. The Horseshoe Bend and Louisa divisions are more abundant in flowers, while the Big Timber and Keithsburg areas are more aquatic.

Closer to the Quad-Cities, management of the refuge is shared through a cooperative agreement between Fish and Wildlife, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Natural Resources primarily manages duck-hunting blinds around Andalusia, which includes the Milan Bottoms, Steve Beissel, a Sterling-based regional wildlife biologist said.

According to Casey Kohrt, a Corps of Engineers forester, the Corps contracts bird studies and maintains the forest resources.