A critical element of the Environmental Management Program is the Long term Resource Monitoring Program for the Upper Mississippi River System. It is the nation’s first large-scale effort to determine the status and trends of fish and wildlife, vegetation, water quality, and habitats of large rivers. This program provides decision makers with information about the river system through monitoring of the river’s health and research of the river’s ecology. Because of these efforts, we now have ready access to what is perhaps the world’s best source of ecological data on large rivers.