Beach Work
The Friends of Pool 9 have been working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources to refurbish some of the beaches in Pool 9.
Many of the beaches on the river were created when dredge material (primarily sand) was mechanically or hydraulically placed there in order to maintain a 9 ' shipping lane for barge traffic on the Upper Miss River. Back in the 40's, 50's and 60's this material was sidecast at any convenient location. Little reguard was given to where the sand was placed, often resulting in the loss of valuable wetlands and floodplain habitat.
The beaches have always been a draw to visitors using the River/Refuge for recreational activities in the summer. However, it was also recognized that the indescriminate placement of the dredge material could be and often was in direct conflict with the purposes for which the Refuge was established.
To help minimize the impact of the dredging operation, a beach management plan was drawn up several years ago. An integral part of this plan was an assessment of the environmental impact of this activity on the resources. Select beaches were identified along with an approved quantity of sand that could be placed on them to help maintain the quality of the beaches for recreational users, while minimizing their impact on the resources. The plans set idle for several years and very little work was done on the beaches due to budget constraints for the Refuge.
When the Friends of Pool 9 were formed, we began meeting with the resource agencies to see if we could help enhance some of these beaches. Over the past 2 1/2 years Friends' members have been working closely with the resource managers on the River, to update the Beach Management Plan for Pool 9. That process is now nearly complete and permission has been given to the Friends of Pool 9 to begin refurbishing a few of these beaches.
Working through a Special Use Permit we were granted permission to add sand to several of the beaches just north of Lansing, Iowa. The key to making this process economically feasible is to piggyback on nearby dredging operations and to have sand delivered to the beaches by the contractors.
Several things need to fall in place to make this happen. First we need to have a nearby beach or a beach that is between the dredge operation and the placement site identified and approved for refurbishment. Secondly it needs to make economic sense for the contractor to offload the sand at the beach. This often means paying the contractor for their extra time and effort. They have to mobilize their equipment and personnel to the beach, and as you can imagine, anytime you start thinking about moving resources on the River, it is expensive. But the U.S. Army Corps of Enginners has gone out of its way to try and minimize this expense for us. And last but not least we need your support. It is through your generous donations that we are able to make this happen!
The Friends would like to express their appreciation to Sue Stirn, our Vice President, for her hard work, leadership and perseverance in making this possible. And we would also like to thank the resource professionals at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Iowa DNR and Wisconsin DNR for their assistance and willingness to work with us on this project.