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Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Habitat Needs Assessment
Last updated on June 13, 2001

STATUS SHEET #3

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  1. Purpose of Habitat Needs Assessment (HNA): Noted in the Report to Congress, An Evaluation of the Upper Mississippi River System, Environmental Management Program, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, December 1997. The following quote establishes the baseline for the assessment:

    "A habitat needs assessment should be completed to establish a technically sound, consensus-based management framework or "blue print' for the restoration, protection, and enhancement of the UMR ecosystem. This assessment would begin to identify, at system, pool, and reach levels, long term habitat requirements. It would also serve to refine the focus of future monitoring and research activities".

    The HNA consists of an evaluation of existing habitat conditions throughout the UMRS, a forecast of future habitat conditions, and quantification of ecologically sustaining and a desired future habitat conditions. The HNA will address habitat needs at the system-wide, river reach, and pool levels of spatial scale. The primary purpose of a HNA will be to guide planning, design, and evaluation of future EMP habitat protection and restoration efforts. The HNA will be periodically updated, with refinements based on new information, changing condition of UMRS habitats, and new understanding of river ecology.

     

  2. Authorization: As the HNA is directly related to the execution of the HREPs EMP habitat protection and restoration and the & LTRM components of the EMP, it is being performed in accordance with the current authorization (Section 1103 of WRDA 1986) for the UMRS-EMP.

     

  3. Schedule: The current schedule for the HNA is a completion date of September 2000. Major Milestones are forthcoming upon completion of the Project Management Plan (PMP).

     

  4. Funding: Current budget for the completion of the HNA is $1,000,000. This funding has been implemented in fiscal years 1999 and 2000. Distribution of funds has been made to various Corps Districts (MVP & MVR), USGS and FWS.

     

  5. Products: Products will be identified and updated through the current approved PMP.

     

  6. Geographic Scope: Current scope identifies all navigable waters of the UMRS-EMP as managed under the program and floodplain adjacent to its waters (bluff to bluff). Reference: SOW & PMP

     

  7. General Method of Assessment:

     

  8. Participants & Roles: MVS will serve as the PM for the HNA in collaborations with Technical Co-Chairs located in MVS and FWS. The HNA committees will include representatives from the Mississippi Valley Division, three Upper MS River Corps Districts, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Maritime Administration, Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, states of Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

     

  9. Accomplishments since last status:

     

  10. Next Steps:

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