Location
Pool 12, Upper Mississippi River Miles 563.0 – 573.0, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Dubuque and Jackson Counties, IA, and Grant County, WI
Description
The Pool 12 Forestry Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration program, is located in portions of Jo Daviess County in Illinois, Dubuque and Jackson Counties in Iowa, and Grant County, WI. The project area covers approximately 26 miles of Pool 12 in the Upper Mississippi River, from Lock and Dam 12 (river mile 557.0) near Bellevue, Iowa, to Lock and Dam 11 (river mile 583.0) in Dubuque, Iowa.
The Project is a 4,000-acre wetland complex that includes shallow lakes, emergent vegetation and managed moist soil areas, and braided channels surrounded by degrading riparian timber.
Project goals are derived from the Refuge’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan (2006), the Refuge’s Habitat Management Plan (2017 draft), River Resources Coordinating Team Pools 11-22 Environmental Pool Plans (Draft 2004), the Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Systemic Forestry Stewardship Plan (2012), and other Upper Mississippi River System restoration documents. The Project will focus on forest health degradation and dwindling forest populations of Pool 12 through the protection of productive forest stands, enhancing forest species diversity, enhancing forest structural diversity, establishing additional forested areas that are ecologically resilient, and reduce detrimental expanse of invasive species.
The Project goal is to maintain, enhance, and restore quality habitat for native and desirable plant and animal species and maintain, enhance, restore, and emulate natural river processes, structures and functions for a resilient and sustainable ecosystem.
The objective identified to meet the goal over the period of analysis is to protect, restore, or create naturally regenerating, resilient, and diverse floodplain forest habitat.
Potential Project Features include:
- Timber stand improvements (i.e. crown thinning, basal area thinning, understory thinning, crop tree release, understory planting, invasive species control, and open canopy tree planting).
- Timber harvest (i.e. modified shelterwood, shelterwood, seed tree, and group selection).
- Increased topographic diversity through earth work with existing soil.
- Areas comprised mainly of invasive species, such as reed canary grass, could be converted to forest habitat by raising the ground elevation through earth work, and/or planting of nursery stock.
- Shoreline protection added to areas experiencing erosion or locations with potential loss of floodplain forest habitat.
Background
The vast majority of bottomland islands and backwater lakes found in Pool 12 are in Federal ownership and are currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as part of Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge). With the exception of Nine-Mile Island at river mile 573.0 and Scott Island at river mile 561.0, most of this land is located on the Illinois side of the river in Jo Daviess County.
Pool 12 is host to a diverse guild of resident and migrating species dependent on the floodplain forests for major components of their life cycle needs. Resident mammals such as deer, squirrel, beaver, and other rodents rely on these floodplain forests. Likewise, resident and migrating birds such as woodpeckers, warblers, waterfowl, and raptors use the forest for nesting and foraging.
Status
Feasibility report started in September 2020 and is scheduled for completion in October 2024.
Additional Information
Authority
Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) of 1986 under Section 1103 (33 U.S.C 2201 et seq.; P.L. 99-662, 1986)
CG - Construction General
Summarized Project Costs
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Estimated Federal Cost
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$9,000,000
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Estimated Non-Federal Cost
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$0
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Estimated Total Project Cost
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$9,000,000
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Allocations Prior to FY 2024
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$1,812,751
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FY 2024 Allocation
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$600,000
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FY 2025 President’s Budget
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$550,000
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FY 2025 Total Capability
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$1,000,000
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Major Work Item Current Year
FY 2024: The Project moved forward with the feasibility report and pre-project monitoring.
Major Work Item Next Fiscal Year
FY 2025: If funded, the project will move forward with finalizing the feasibility report, starting design and pre-project monitoring.