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It is an effort to replace lost habitat and avoid a finding of jeopardy to threatened and endangered species
(pallid sturgeon, least tern and piping plover) resulting from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) projects on the Missouri River.
- This program includes development of emergent sandbar habitat, shallow water habitat, and wetland and
terrestrial habitat. It also includes ongoing data collection
and monitoring to determine if these actions are effective.
- These actions are being taken pursuant to the
2000 Biological Opinion, amended in 2003
(collectively referred to here as the BiOp) and various Water Resource
Development Acts currently focused on activities which contribute to jeopardy avoidance. See "What is a Biological Opinion?' section for more details.
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The Corps is required by federal law
to consult with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) to
determine the potential effects of
proposed actions on threatened or
endangered species. These
consultations can result in a
biological opinion (BiOp) issued by
the USFWS.
In 2000, the USFWS issued a BiOp
(amended in 2003) that found that
actions proposed by the Corps
would jeopardize the continued
existence of three federally listed
species: the piping plover, least tern
and pallid sturgeon. The BiOp
recommended recovery actions
that are carried out by the Missouri
River Recovery Program, such as
creating sandbar habitat and
shallow water habitat, as well as
propagation efforts. |
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While laboratory analysis of the 2014 Missouri River field sampling is still ongoing, more genetically-confirmed larval pallid sturgeons have been identified. This finding
makes six in total so far.
Indication of Successful Reproduction for the Endangered Pallid Sturgeon on the Missouri River
During 2014 Missouri River field sampling, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) captured the first two genetically-confirmed larval pallid sturgeon near the mouth of the Missouri River. Monitoring crews have additional larval sturgeon remaining to be tested in the coming months.
The pallid sturgeon is an endangered fish species native to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and significant work has been conducted by multiple state and federal partnerships to help aid its recovery.
The sampling efforts performed by the MDC were funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through the Missouri River Recovery Program. The two larval pallid sturgeon were confirmed through laboratory analysis and will undergo additional testing to determine if any further information can be gleaned from these two fish. Determining the degree of reproduction that is occurring and why sturgeon don't seem to survive the first year is still a critical need. These fish, and hopefully others in the future, will help answer those questions.
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| Today, the Missouri River hosts a wide variety of interests and uses, all of which are considered in the river's recovery program. They include social, economic, historical and cultural uses such as agriculture, commerce, conservation, energy, environmental, natural resources, navigation, recreation, residential, urban uses and water supply.
These uses have resulted in significant impacts to the Missouri River ecosystem:
- Three million acres of natural river habitat altered
- 51 of 67 native fish species now rare, uncommon or decreasing
- Reproduction of cottonwoods, historically the dominant floodplain tree, largely has ceased
- Aquatic insects, a key link in the food chain, reduced by 70 percent
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