Latest Mississippi River Stories
The extensive system of levees along the Mississippi River has done much to prevent devastating floods in riverside communities. But the levees have also contributed to the loss of Louisiana's wetlands. By holding in floodwaters, they prevent sediment from flowing into the watershed and rebuilding marshes, which are compacting under their own weight and losing ground to sea-level rise. Reporting in Nature Geoscience, a team of University of Pennsylvania geologists and others used the...
BRAINERD, Minn., Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota conservation advocates and Potlatch Corporation announced today that they have reached final agreement on an $11 million deal to conserve a nearly 2,000-acre natural area along the Mississippi River northeast of Brainerd, Minnesota. The area is known by conservation leaders as "Mississippi River Northwoods." "This conservation effort took a great deal of leadership, commitment and patience from many--including Crow...
On September 5th, 2012 the inaugural “Liberty to Freedom Swim”, dedicated to peace and freedom throughout the world, will take place in New York Harbor. New York, NY (PRWEB) September 04, 2012 Big River Man Martin Strel will attempt a never before done open water Swim from the Statue of Liberty to the Freedom Tower this Wednesday morning, September 5th, at 9:30 AM. The route connects the symbol for a future of liberty from oppression to the symbol for a future free from terror, and...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Hurricane Isaac was able to make the Mississippi River run backwards for 24 hours after hitting the Gulf Coast this week. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) instruments recorded the flow of the river, and found that it was running in reverse on Tuesday. The flow reached nearly 182,000 cubic feet per second upriver, and gathered up a height of about 10 feet above average. The agency said that the average flow of the river is about...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Salt water is creeping up into the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico due to a drought, so the Army Corps of Engineers is building a sill in order to stop the process. The Mississippi River was closed down in New Orleans on Wednesday as Army engineers built a contraption to help stop the advancement of salt water from threatening the drinking water in the New Orleans area. Because of the low water levels in the giant river,...
Researchers could have a new method to rebuild wetlands of the Louisiana delta, thanks to a chance finding while monitoring severe flooding of the Mississippi River. A team of civil engineers and geologists from the University of Illinois, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, published their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. In the spring and summer of 2011, high floodwaters on the Mississippi prompted the corps to open the Bonnet Carre spillway. The spillway...
MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Great American Steamboat Company's American Queen arrived in its home port of Memphis today after her first voyage up the Mississippi River since 2008. The U.S.-flagged steamboat was welcomed to the revitalized Beale Street Landing marking the return of overnight cruises on the great rivers of America's heartland and the continuation of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company legacy. (Photo:...
RED WING, Minn., April 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pro Brian Bjorkman of Fargo, N.D. tried to make the final day of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour on the Mississippi River presented by Evinrude exciting by bringing in a 28 pound 11 ounce sack, the heaviest sack of the day, with his co-angler Keith Keivens of Toledo Ohio. It would fall short and Pro Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa, and co-anger Tim Lessila of Milwaukee, Wis., who caught four walleyes weighing 14 pounds, 15...
RED WING, Minn., April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The steady rain that settled in late Thursday didn't hamper walleye pro Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Iowa, and his co-angler Jimmy Cox of Bono, Ark., on the first day of the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour presented by Evinrude. They brought in a limit of five walleyes weighing 36 pounds, 12 ounces to take a dominating lead on day one of the season opener being held on the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minn. The pair holds an 8-pound,...
Scientists call for "immediate action" to address disintegration of delta BATON ROUGE, La., April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Building a series of engineered structures called diversions along the lower Mississippi River will yield tens of billions of dollars in net annual benefits to the nation and hedge against future disasters, according to a new report co-authored by 22 prominent scientists and engineers. The report, "Answering 10 Fundamental Questions about the...
Latest Mississippi River Reference Libraries
The Blue sucker, Cycleptus elongatus, is a freshwater species of fish in the sucker family. Huge migrations of these fast, powerful fish once migrated throughout the Mississippi River basin, and spring harvests of blue sucker were a staple food for early pioneers. Blue suckers are quite rare today, mainly due to the segmentation of habitat caused by the thousands of dams that have been built in the last century. Early records indicate that this fish once reached weights of over 40 lb,...
