Environmental Stewardship

To make the Red River navigable; it was necessary to train the river into a stable alignment.  This requires considerable ingenuity and a systems approach to the overall design.  A design memorandum was developed in the early 1970s that provided the channel geometry and conditions necessary to provide 9-foot navigation.  Part of the design involved shortening the river by approximately 50 miles between the Mississippi River and Shreveport.  Early in this process, the Corps recognized the environmental importance of the resulting severed oxbows.  A mitigative design feature of the project called for conservation of 26 of these oxbow lakes by constructing a closure dam on the upstream end of the oxbow and leaving the downstream end open to the river.  This allowed the oxbows to remain hydraulically connected to the river and provide environmental benefits to the project.  By the mid 1990s, due to the high sediment load carried by the Red it became apparent that the downstream ends of some of these oxbows were filling in and over time these oxbows would be closed off from the river if nothing was done.  The Corps conducted a study that showed that it was environmentally acceptable, technically sound and economically feasible to dredge the downstream ends of these oxbows in order to maintain the hydraulic connection to the river.  Dredging at selected oxbows is conducted annually based on survey data of the oxbows designated for conservation.  The oxbow lakes provide an outstanding sport fishery resource as evidenced by the many fishing tournaments held annually on the river.
  

Supplement 2 to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project was completed in 1983.  The EIS showed that aquatic and waterfowl resources were enhanced by the project above pre-project levels.  Bottomland hardwoods however were adversely impacted due to inundation caused by impoundment of the navigation pools.  Bottomland hardwood losses below Alexandria, Louisiana were mitigated by purchases at the Tensas National Wildlife refuge. 40,000 acres were purchased by the Corps to mitigate for 6 Corps projects, three of which will not be constructed.  A mitigation report completed in 1984 showed that 14,000 acres of existing bottomland hardwoods should be acquired to offset bottomland hardwood losses above Alexandria.  In 1986, Congress authorized mitigation for the project based on this report.  In 1990, Congress authorized an additional 12,000 acres of mitigation lands to be purchased for the project as well.  To date, approximately 6500 acres of bottomland hardwoods have been acquired.  These lands are primarily in Caddo and Bossier Parish.  Acquisition of suitable lands from willing sellers is continuing.  Congress has further modified the mitigation project to allow that mitigation lands may be purchased in any of these parishes:  Avoyelles, Rapides, Grant, Natchitoches, Red River, Bossier, and Caddo.  After acquisition, the mitigation lands will remain in Federal ownership, but  management will be accomplished by the Red River Waterway Commission.

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is the steward of nearly 12 million acres of public lands and waters nationwide. The mission of our program is to manage and conserve natural resources consistent with ecosystem management principles, while providing quality public outdoor recreation experiences to serve the needs of present and future generations. The management of natural resources by utilizing a stewardship concept ensures the conservation, preservation, and protection of Corps land and water resources.