OutdoorNebraska

55 GUIDE TO NEBRASKA'S WETLANDS walleye and sauger) are more variable depending on water management. Limited commercial fi shing currently exists on the Missouri River for rough fi sh (primarily carp and buffalo). The Missouri River is a Biologically Unique Landscape (Schneider et al. 2011). Before channelization changed the character of the Missouri River, the area was very important migration habitat for ducks, geese, swans, pelicans, and shorebirds (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1978). Large populations of wood ducks once nested in the river corridor along with smaller numbers of blue-winged teal, gadwall, and mallards. Wood ducks still nest along the river where adequate habitat remains. Although of diminished quality, the Missouri River still provides migration habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds, especially in the unchannelized reach. DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska and Iowa focuses on providing migration habitat for waterfowl. More than 300 species of birds and numerous mammals use the Missouri River and associated habitats. One hundred and sixty-one species of birds likely breed in the region (Mollhoff, 2001). Loss of wetland habitats has caused decreases in populations of wetland mammals such as beaver and muskrat. In places where the Missouri River fl oodplain and the associated wetlands remain intact, they help to reduce downstream fl ood impacts. This provides benefi ts to farmers and to downstream communities. The Missouri River in Boyd and Knox counties has been included in the National Park Service's Nationwide Rivers Inventory, in part due to outstanding fi sh and wildlife benefi ts (National Park Service 1982). The Missouri River from the Fort Randall Dam in South Dakota to just downstream from Niobrara, Nebraska, and from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota, to Ponca State Park near Ponca, Nebraska, is a Wild and Scenic River identifi ed as the Missouri National Recreational River. Outdoor recreation, from boating and fi shing to camping and hunting, is important along the entire Missouri River in Nebraska. However, recreational use likely is much lower than its potential due to the reduction in fi sh and wildlife habitats in the channelized reach (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1980). Despite this, a 2004 survey by the Missouri Department of Conservation, in cooperation with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and others indicated that the Missouri American lotus blooms in a wetland along the Missouri River in Fontenelle Forest near Bellevue. MICHAEL FORSBERG

• Cover