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Upper Miss Refuge 2010 Volunteer Opportunities |
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Monday, 31 May 2010 11:53 |
June - November
June
1. June 5 Pool 8 (lower) clean-up with Mississippi River Wild. Many hands make light work. (Brownsville/C.A.R.P)
2. Heron colony counts. During the first part of month. On-going. 4 people.
3. Goose banding. On-going. 4 people.
June – October
1. Post boundary. Unlimited. On-going.
2. Survey past beetle release sites to determine presence and effect on purple loosestrife plants. 2 days in July. 4 people.
3. Bald eagle nest surveys. Multiple events. 1 day each event. 2 people.
a. Activity searches – end of March
b. Production counts/searches – end of May/first of June
4. Assist with reed canary grass study. On-going. 1-4 people.
a. Seed trap collections every 2 weeks on 2 sites. April through October.
b. Veg surveys 2x per year: May and July/August
c. Well checks 1x per month
5. Seed Collection for prairie – multiple days, depending on what species are ready for collection at that time of year
June – August
1. Map crown vetch from boat. Unlimited. On-going
2. Map Japanese bamboo. Unlimited. On-.going
3. Collect plants for botanical library. Unlimited. On-going
4. Collect Purple Loosestrife control beetles and release. 2-3 days (collect in Winona, MN, release in lower pool 8)
July
1. Aquatic vegetation sampling. 6 days. 6 people.
August
1. Assist with wild celery sampling survey on Lake Onalaska. 1 day. 10 people.
2. Band wood ducks. On-going. 6 people.
September
1. Band waterfowl with WI DNR. On-going. 6 people.
October
1. Assist deploying buoys marking the boundaries of the Lake Onalaska Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Area and Goose Island. 2 days. 2 people.
October – November
1. Staff the Brownsville Overlook during peak migration to answer questions and provide information about migration, swans, island building, etc. On-going. 2 people.
2. Hunter bag checks and avian influenza sampling. 2 days. 12 people. |
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Pool 8 Island Names Selected |
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Thursday, 06 May 2010 21:54 |
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The wait is over. Over 1000 name were submitted by the public for the Pool 8 Islands, Phase III "Island Naming Contest." In March, the public was asked to help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service name nine newly- constructed islands in Lower Navigation Pool 8. These islands, funded through the Environmental Management Program, are located in a 3,000 backwater area between Brownsville, MN and Stoddard, WI. All nine islands, built as part of the Pool 8 Islands, Phase III, Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, are designed to restore habitat for migratory birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and mammals. Contest participants were asked to submit names reflecting the Brownsville, MN and Stoddard, WI area in terms of fish, wildlife, habitat, history, and geography. The public’s response to the contest was outstanding with over 160 participants from nine states, who submitted over 1000 names.
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Island names selected for the nine new islands are: (see map attachment) Island |
Winning Name |
Justification |
Submitted By |
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N7 |
Broken Bow Island |
It looks like a broken bow. |
Luke Helminski, Longfellow Middle School – School on the River, La Crosse, WI |
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N8 Snake Tongue Island |
The island is shaped like a snake tongue. Snakes are commonly found in this area. |
Cass Roney, Parker Schamberger, and Anonymous Student, Longfellow Middle School – School on the River, La Crosse, WI |
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E1 Small Fry Island |
The island looks like a tiny fish fry. Judges also noted that this island was designed to encourage spawning habitat. |
Russ Peterson’s 5th Grade at Stoddard Elementary School, Stoddard, WI |
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E2 Log Island |
Judges noted this island was constructed with black locust logs located on Goose Island. |
Nicholas Bissen, Maria Lusk, Crucifixion School, La Crescent, MN |
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E3 Old Scribbler Island |
Named after Jay Reed, the legendary outdoors columnist for the Milwaukee Journal. His career at the MJ and his articles about the Mississippi are most deserving of this recognition. His writing could put you into a marsh or a boat even if you were sitting in your pj’s with a cup of coffee in your family room. |
Jim Stroschein, Mineral Point, WI |
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W1 Cant Hook Island |
Looking downriver, this island can be perceived to resemble a cant hook, used by lumber and river men in the 19th century to move logs/timber that were floating downstream in large rafts through the adjacent Raft Channel. |
Mark Steingraeber, La Crosse, WI |
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W2 Raft Island |
With the building of this island, it created a new safe pathway for the boating and recreational community to enjoy lower Raft Channel. |
Jody Sonsalla, Brownsville, MN |
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W3 Dabbler Island |
Dabblers, commonly found in this area, are ducks that feed by tipping-up, or "dabbling." |
Bill Ellingson, La Crosse, WI |
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W4 Cygnet Island |
After the young swans that visit and migrate here each fall and spring.
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Marcy Lehrke, Chaseburg, WI |
Individuals who submitted winning names received a certificate designating their contribution to the Pool 8, Phase III, Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project.
The judging committee was comprised of representatives from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Mississippi River Wild, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Additional islands are under construction. A second contest will be held to name future islands.
For more information, visit http://www.fws.gov/midwest/UpperMississippiRiver/ or contact the La Crosse District Office at 608/783-8405, or stop-in the office at 555 Lester Avenue, Onalaska, WI. Office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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Crater Island is Temporarily Closed |
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Thursday, 29 April 2010 21:38 |
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today announced that the upper end of Crater Island is being temporarily closed to all public access. This temporary closure is needed to protect the safety of visitors while a mechanical dredging operation is underway.
Crater Island, or the Above Brownsville Dredged Material Placement site, is located across the main channel from Lawrence Lake near River Mile 690.2 in Navigation Pool 8.
Jim Nissen, La Crosse District Manager, said the closure will remain in effect until the dredging operation is completed, which may last through the 2010 boating season. The boundary of the area closed to entry has been marked with signs and flyers announcing the closure will be available at nearby landings.
Sand from Crater Island is being barged downriver and used to construct islands as part of the Pool 8 Islands, Phase III, Stage 3A habitat rehabilitation and enhancement project.
Five earthen islands and three seed islands are being constructed this year along the Raft Channel in Wisconsin by Portable Barge Service, Inc. of St. Paul, Minn.
This year’s work is part of a larger habitat restoration project located in a 3,000-acre backwater just downstream of Brownsville, Minn. Construction began in 2006. When completed, 26 islands will have been constructed or protected.
Crater Island was also temporarily closed to public entry through the summer of 2008.
The habitat project is funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Management Program (EMP). Project planning and design have been a cooperative effort between the St. Paul District Corps of Engineers; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Geological Survey; the Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota Departments of Natural Resources; the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the public.
For more information, contact the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge office in Onalaska, Wisc. The office is located at 555 Lester Avenue and office hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p
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Thursday, 29 April 2010 20:54 |
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Service Offices Take the Plunge at Sport Show |
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Tuesday, 23 February 2010 19:39 |
After occupying the dim-lit corner of a main entrance to the
La Crosse
Center for more than a decade, three local
Service offices recently took a mid-winter plunge
by relocating their display booth to the bright lights and well-trodden
walkways on the main-floor of the exhibition hall during the 33rd annual La
Crosse Boat, Travel, and Sports Show. Located along a serpentine path amidst more than eighty other exhibitors,
no one attending the show could miss what the Fish and Wildlife Service had to
offer in 2010. As in past years, a large
aquarium stocked with native fish and mussels from the Genoa National Fish
Hatchery was prominently displayed to catch the attention of passers by. While stopped here, staff from the La Crosse
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife
and Fish Refuge, and members of friends groups supporting these offices engaged
more than sixteen-hundred visitors in conversation during the four-day event. Key topics of discussion this year included: local
opportunities to connect children with nature and out-door activities; aquatic
habitat restoration efforts in Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River; invasive
species; and the construction of a new
La
Crosse district office and visitor center for the
refuge on Brice’s Prairie. Coinciding
with the celebration of Valentine’s Day this year, sport show visitors were
encouraged to select a Service-designed Fall
in love with nature valentine to share with someone special. The opportunity to personally exchange
natural resource information with the large, diverse audience that attends this
annual event makes Service participation here a valuable outreach tool for all
La Crosse area offices.
 Service staff and friends group members greeted visitors to
the agency’s display booth at the annual La Crosse Boat, Travel,
and Sports Show. Photo credit: Owen Johnson.
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