Although the Rock Island District considers navigation its primary mission, it is also committed to preservation and leads the way as a steward of the environment. As the District works to ensure safe, efficient navigation, its employees never lose sight of their environmental restoration and protection responsibilities.
The District’s efforts include multiple ecosystem restoration projects, forest management programs and watershed studies. Throughout five river basins, the District works with local sponsors to aid with ecosystem restoration. We plan, design and build ecosystem enhancement projects to restore and create spawning and feeding habitats for fish and wildlife in the backwaters and side channels of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and their tributaries. The District and its partners have implemented more than four dozen projects restoring more than 100,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat. Additionally, the District’s Forest Management Program on the Mississippi River maintains 54,000 acres of bottomland forest in four states and two Fish and Wildlife Refuge complexes.
Rock Island District’s Natural Resources Management office also manages and conserves natural resources, consistent with the ecosystem management principles, while providing quality public outdoor recreation experiences.