Mississippi
Mississippi River refuges get $10 million for nature-based solutions to climate change
A Nonprofit is working to fight climate change through tree cloning
The Archangel Tree Archive nonprofit is cloning trees across the country and replanting them around the world in hopes of reversing climate change.
A $10 million investment will fund seven projects aimed at making national wildlife refuge lands along the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers more resilient to climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced earlier this month.
The projects, which span all five states that border the upper Mississippi, will emphasize nature-based solutions — in other words, working with the river ecosystem instead of trying to control it — to blunt the impacts of some of the river’s major problems, like flooding and drought. There are 11 national wildlife refuges along the two rivers, the largest of which is the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act. Part of it was rolled out last year to support projects on state-owned lands, including in Wisconsin.
The upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers are seeing the consequences of a warmer, wetter world, and the human-engineered infrastructure built decades ago, like the lock-and-dam system and levees, isn’t able to keep up. In particular, an almost unprecedented amount of water flowed through the rivers over the last decade, killing trees, degrading fish habitat and threatening to breach levees meant to constrain them.
These new projects are meant to help land managers think through those climate threats and adapt to what’s happening now, said Tim Miller, who manages the La Crosse District of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Here’s what to know about what they’ll tackle.
Floodplain forests are a priority
More than $1 million will be dedicated to the project, “Building Resilience in America’s Big River Forests,” and an additional half-million will go toward restoring bottomland hardwood forest in Missouri.
Bottomland forests, also called floodplain forests, are located along major rivers. As their name indicates, they flood seasonally when the river floods. But along the upper Mississippi, more water flowing through the river and longer-lasting flooding events have inundated these trees more than they can handle, causing hundreds to die.
More: What to know about floodplain forests, a struggling ecosystem on the Mississippi River
More: A new technique could help save the Mississippi River’s floodplain forests: raising the forest floor
Work is ongoing to save them, but this money will allow the Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the range of that work to all 11 national wildlife refuges along the river in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, Miller said.
Staff will be curtailing invasive plant species that have moved into areas where larger trees have died and planting tree species that are better suited for today’s wetter conditions.
The funds will also help staff labor-intensive projects like these on refuges that have very few employees, Miller said. The national wildlife refuge system has struggled with chronic understaffing in the past decade.
Other projects will make room for the river
Some river engineering structures will get a facelift, or even a total overhaul, to deal with high waters. That includes Guttenberg Ponds in Clayton County, Iowa, where a levee protecting a wetland area from the river’s main channel has been degrading over time, repairs for which have been costly. The project will allow the degradation to happen and turn the area behind it into floodplain forest, Miller said.
“Instead of fighting the river with these levees we’ve had, we’re allowing it to naturally degrade over time,” he said. “It’s kind of a neat way of looking at it.”
Other engineering changes include replacing or raising the elevation of water control structures, which regulate the flow of the river, so they can hold more water, easing stress on the river, Miller said.
Wisconsin project focused on fish habitat
One of the projects funded is specific to Wisconsin: restoring Sam Gordy’s Slough in Buffalo County. Floods and high flows have brought more sediment into the backwater channel, making the area shallower and less suitable for fish and effectively cutting it off from the river’s main channel.
More: Climate change imperils the upper Mississippi River backwaters. Now nature needs human help.
The project will reconnect the backwater channel to the main channel by dredging, and install a sediment diverter so sediment can’t keep piling up, Miller said.
Work will start on most of the projects this year, he said, with the exception of the Guttenberg Ponds project.
Madeline Heim is a Report for America corps reporter who writes about environmental issues in the Mississippi River watershed and across Wisconsin. Contact her at (920) 996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WHLT) – Temperatures are soaring across Mississippi.
“It’s really bad. I am melting. I mean, the humanity just swamps over you quickly,” said Vickie Barfield, who lives in Hattiesburg.
The high humidity and a heat index of 110 made it feel even hotter. Logan Bryant, who works in construction, said the heat makes for a hard day on the job.
“Well, being that I work outside, it makes you sweat a lot worse. So whenever it’s humid outside, it’s just uncomfortable,” he said.
During the high temperatures, doctors said people should stay indoors between the hours of noon and 2:00 p.m., limiting activity to the evening and morning. If you have to be outside for an extended period, you should take precautions.
“We want to make sure before we ever go outside that we’re already hydrated, already taking care of ourselves and being prepared. When we are planning on going outside with sunscreen, with bottled water, to make sure that we’re not letting ourselves get too hot,” said Dr. Grace Gable with Forrest General Hospital.
Gable said not taking preventative measures during a heat wave can cause serious medical conditions, including heat exhaustion.
“The signs of that include being really confused, feeling really hot. If you check a temperature, it might be as high as 104 degrees. Your pulse may be really fast. You might feel your heart racing and feel really dizzy. When that happens, we definitely want you to move into some AC if possible. If you are not able to make it inside the AC, make sure to get in the shade,” she said.
If you begin to feel dizzy and disoriented, call 911. Heat exhaustion can be fatal if left untreated.
FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (WEAU) – Late yesterday afternoon crews responded to calls about a woman in the Mississippi River.
According to a news release from the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office, on June 24 around 4:15 p.m., dispatch received calls about a woman impeding traffic on Highway 35 in Fountain City, Wis.
The release says that prior to deputies arriving, it appeared the 60-year-old woman entered the Mississippi River intentionally.
Fountain City Fire Department helped law enforcement with its rescue boat.
The woman was downstream about a half mile from where she entered the water. She was returned to shore and evaluated before being transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and further mental health evaluation.
The sheriff’s office urges the public not to swim in the Mississippi River until water levels and dangerous currents go down.
Copyright 2024 WEAU. All rights reserved.
To get through the offseason, we’re putting together the “Mount Rushmores” of Mississippi State football. We’ve set out backfields with the Mount Rushmores of both MSU quarterbacks and running backs.
Now, we move onto the pass-catchers. Here’s the Mount Rushmore of Mississippi State wide receivers…
There’s one receiving talent that stands out above the rest at Mississippi State, and that’s Eric Moulds. No other Bulldog pass-catcher has had the combination of size, speed, and dominant athleticism as Moulds.
As a freshman, Moulds caught 17 passes for 398 yards and four TDs. Those numbers would be upped to 39 catches for 845 yards and seven TDs in 1994. He’d close his college career with 62 for 779 and six TDs in 1995 before being a 1st round pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 1996 NFL Draft.
Eric Moulds would spend 12 seasons in the league, four times going for over 1000 yards and three times being named a Pro Bowler.
Mississippi State’s current WR coach happened to be one of the players responsible for turning around Bulldog football under Dan Mullen. A 4-star recruit out of Tupelo, Chad Bumphis proved to be a star in the making, leading the team in receiving as a true freshman in 2009.
In 2010 in became a true go-to target with 44 catches for 634 yards and five TDs. His numbers dipped in 2011, but he’d rebound better than ever the next year. As a senior, Bumphis caught 58 passes for 922 yards and a school-record 12 TDs.
Chad Bumphis is the all-time MSU leader in receiving TDs with 24 and is second in career yards at 2,270.
The first 1000-yard receiver in MSU history needs to make Mount Rushmore. In 1978, Mardye McDole caught 44 passes for 1,035 yards and seven TDs, earning All-SEC honors. That yardage total would stand as the single-season record at State all the way until 2021.
McDole pass-catching numbers would dip significantly as a junior and senior, but that’s because new HC Emory Bellard implemented his Wishbone attack. Within that offense, McDole frequently lined-up as a RB. He’d post 727 yards of total offense and six TDs in 1980, again being named All-SEC. Despite the change in usage, Mardye McDole still ranks third in all time receiving yards at State with 2,214.
You’d expect at least one WR from the greatest era of offense in Starkville to make Mount Rushmore. Fred Ross’ put together some of the best pass-catching seasons in State history during his career. After a quiet freshman season, Ross would make noise with five TDs during MSU’s incredible 2014 season.
As a junior, he’d become just the second 1000-yard receiver at State with a then school-record 88 catches for 1,007 yards and five TDs. Ross would go for another 917 yards as a senior and tie Chad Bumphis with 12 TD catches.
Fred Ross was named 1st Team All-SEC in both 2015 and 2016. He owns the career receiving record at MSU with 2,538 yards and is tied for second in career TDs with 22.
Texas Rangers’ Wyatt Langford revealed his best weightlifting feat
What to expect for the Nov. 5 general election in Utah
Gondolas Snack Bar Opens in Morristown
Roanoke native Jen Hoover back in the ACC with Virginia Tech
Burst in covid spending helped students recover, researchers find
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
France elections: Germans prepare for seismic change in EU politics
Iowa floodwaters breach levees as even more rain dumps onto parts of the Midwest
Fox News Politics: Trump Ungagged…Kinda
A right to drink? Inside the debate to protect US workers against the heat
-
News1 week agoJoe Biden, Barack Obama And Jimmy Kimmel Warn Of Another Donald Trump Term; Star-Filled L.A. Fundraiser Expected To Raise At Least $30 Million — Update
-
World1 week agoRussia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 842
-
News1 week agoIt's easy to believe young voters could back Trump at young conservative conference
-
World1 week agoSwiss summit demands 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine
-
World1 week agoProtesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
News1 week agoA fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
-
World1 week agoAl-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for June attack in Burkina Faso
-
Politics1 week agoJudge rules Missouri abortion ban did not aim to impose lawmakers' religious views on others