River Wildlife

Why It Is Important

The Mississippi River system supports more than 400 species of wildlife, including several endangered species, such as the pallid sturgeon, the alligator gar, the ancient paddlefish, and the Higgins Eye pearlymussel to name just a few. Wildlife refuges protect some of the most vital habitats. These refuges include the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which is the longest river refuge in the continental United States. It alone hosts 119 species of fish.¹

The Mississippi River valley is one of Earth’s great migration corridors. Songbirds that winter in Central and South America and the Caribbean and over 40% of North America’s ducks, geese, swans and wading birds rely on the Mississippi River as a flyway, providing them direction, resting places, and food for epic seasonal migrations.²   In fact, the longest migration route in the Western Hemisphere lies in this flyway, beginning on the Arctic coast of Alaska in the north and ending in Patagonia in the south.³

Human Intervention

Over time, development, pollution and structural changes to the river for navigation and flood control have changed the river, destroying much of its ecological vitality — the very qualities that make it such an important part of our communities. Poor water quality and loss of habitat are limiting the River’s ability to support life. Plant and animal species are declining dramatically.

Sediments that were once naturally deposited in the Gulf of Mexico are now trapped behind locks and dams in the upper river, creating an excess sediment burden in the upper system while starving the delta of sediments that renew vital coastal wetlands – some of the most productive wildlife habitat in the world, and some of the most endangered.

What You Can Do

We can help protect the River’s habitat and many species by supporting habitat restoration programs on both public and private lands and getting involved in local projects to clean up the river and restore natural areas. At home, we can create habitat in our own yards by planting native plants and trees and avoiding the use of lawn and garden chemicals that can pollute the river and threaten wildlife health. For more information on what you can do, go to the River Action Items section.

¹ Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities (2008) Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB), National Academies Press http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12051&page=21
² http://www.fmr.org/mississippi
³ http://earthday.wilderness.org/backyard/flyways/mississippiroutemap.htm