Southern Illinois University Carbondale will operate a new research field station on a 1,383-acre site restored by the American Land Conservancy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The American Land Conservancy (ALC), SIUC, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources dedicated the new Middle Mississippi River Wetland Field Station last June. The station is located in Alexander County, north of Thebes, Ill., in the Mississippi River floodplain.

SIUC's Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center will coordinate interdisciplinary research activities at the site. The goal of the field station is to promote ecologically sound and economically viable uses of large river floodplain wetlands through demonstrations, research, a visitor center, and educational programs. In addition, the site will be open for tourism, hunting, fishing, and other public recreational activities.

The ALC acquired the property in 1997 as part of its efforts to help farmers retire highly flood-prone farmland in the wake of the 1993 Mississippi River flood.

"There are a number of federal agencies and nonprofit organizations that have an intense interest in the mid-Mississippi region, which is defined as between the mouth of the Missouri River and the mouth of the Ohio River," says Christopher Kohler, director of the fisheries center. "That means Southern Illinois on the Illinois side, so we're perfectly located for any initiatives."

He noted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is establishing a new refuge in the mid-Mississippi corridor. In June 2003, SIUC hosted a mid-Mississippi partnership workshop that included the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited, and other groups.

"Things are happening in that area, and we have strong programs that are of interest to these groups," Kohler says. "A field station in the midst of that will be a big help to get research under way."

--by Tom Woolf, Media & Communication Resources

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