After evaluating five alternatives for restoring fish and wildlife values to the floodplain, Hartwig selected "Option B," which calls for expansion of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge from its current authorized size of 16,628 acres to 60,000 acres. The option also includes increased opportunities for public use, including hunting, fishing and wildlife observation. Other options ranged from doing nothing, to acquiring the entire Missouri River floodplain, some 800,000 acres from Kansas City to St. Louis. The expansion project will add up to 43,628 acres to the Big Muddy, one of eight National Wildlife Refuges operated by the Service in Missouri.
Many changes have occurred since Lewis and Clarks epic exploration up the Missouri River in 1804 -1805. Forested acres, which then made up 76 percent of the floodplain, have been reduced to 12 percent. During the same period, acres devoted to farming in the floodplain increased from 18 percent to 83 percent. Natural resource managers in the Midwest generally agree that between 10 and 20 percent of the 800,000-acre floodplain and associated fish and wildlife habitats between Kansas City and St. Louis must be restored to insure long-term health of the rivers ecosystem. The refuge expansion project will help restore about eight percent of the riverine habitat along the floodplain between the two cities.
The Service will work cooperatively with state and federal agencies, and other willing sellers to acquire land along the floodplain. Public Law 103-75, a federal law designed to provide monetary relief to Midwest landowners affected by widespread flooding 1993, will provide some of the funding for land purchases. The Great Flood of 1993 devastated hundreds of thousands of acres along the Missouri River. While much of the flood-damaged land has since been restored, significant amounts of land have not, with some of it enrolled in easements with the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Wetland Reserve Program or Emergency Wetland Reserve Program. These easement lands, and other floodplain areas not having flood protection, will be the main focus for possible additions to the refuge. The Service will also consider other land offered by willing sellers. Land acquisition costs are estimated at $48 million.
The Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, headquartered in Columbia, Mo., was created in September, 1994, and consists of approximately 7,100 acres of bottomland forests, lakes, sloughs, cropland and moist soil units. Much of the land for the refuge came from landowners whose land was covered with several feet of sand by flooding in 1993. Many chose to sell their farms, retire, or move their farming operations elsewhere. The Service acquired these lands-- from willing sellers--with funding derived from Emergency Supplemental Appropriations. More than 1,500 people visit the Refuge annually.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprising more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries and 78 ecological services field stations.
The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/
