The Rock Island District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new Beaver Island Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project on the Mississippi River. This event will take place on October 1st at 11 a.m. at the Municipal Boat Ramp in Albany, Illinois.
This $25.3 million project was part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. It worked on restoring the habitat surrounding Beaver Island on the Mississippi River near Clinton, Iowa. This project restored 178 acres of aquatic habitat and 1,500 acres of floodplain surrounding Beaver Island.
These improvements were made through dredging, planting and reforestation efforts, bank stabilization, among several other construction projects. The goal was to repair and restore the habitat, along with protecting the environment surrounding Beaver Island.
This area of the river is part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and is federally owned land. Beaver Island and the project lands are an extremely diverse habitat, including wetlands, floodplains, interconnected backwaters, and secondary channels.
At the ribbon cutting, speakers will include representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. These speakers will discuss the project's impacts and its importance to the river system.
For more information about this event and project, head to https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Stewardship/Upper-Mississippi-River-Restoration/.