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GUIDE TO NEBRASKA'S WETLANDS
• Bramble WMA, 2 miles east and 2.5 miles north of
Cedar Bluff, Saunders County
• Schramm Park State Recreation Area, 8 miles south
of Gretna, Sarpy County
MISSOURI RIVER
Profi le
In Nebraska, the Missouri River fl oodplain harbors
a collection of riverine and marsh-like wetlands
that follow the state line from eastern Boyd County
downstream to the southeast corner of the state in
Richardson County. Prior to the 1930s, the Missouri
River was a wild, natural river that supported a
tremendous number and diversity of fi sh and wildlife.
The river was described as occupying a sandy channel
that fl owed between easily erodible banks 1,500 feet
to over 1 mile apart with braided, sinuous channels
twisting among sheltered backwaters, sloughs, chutes,
oxbows, gravel bars, sandbars, mudfl ats, snags,
alluvial islands, deep pools, marshland, and shallow
water areas (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980).
The character and natural fl ow regime of the river
was drastically altered between 1930 and 1970 as
channelization and mainstem dams were constructed.
The unchannelized reaches from eastern Boyd County
to the headwaters of Lewis and Clark Lake and from
Gavins Point Dam to approximately Ponca State Park
remain in a more natural condition, with numerous
islands and wetlands, although diminished from
pre-dam conditions. Water release management
from Fort Randall and Gavins Point Dams altered the
connections between the river and the associated
backwater and fl oodplain wetland habitats. Lewis and
Clark Lake was created behind Gavins Point Dam and
formed a 15-mile lake. Between the riverine section
and the headwaters of Lewis and Clark Lake, a 10- to
12-mile transitional section has been created over the
past several decades. This transitional section includes
an island complex divided by a series of braided
channels and extensive wetlands. Channelization
The unchannelized portion of the
Missouri River still has sandbars and
side channel wetlands, like the ones
restored here at Ponca State Park in
Dixon County.
ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
