RESTORING FLOODPLAIN
FORESTS IN THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN
Andy Meier
Forester
USACE St. Paul District – La Crescent,
MN Field Office
July 13, 2016
US Army Corps of Engineers
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 The Upper Mississippi River: A Global
Ecological Treasure
 Restoration Objectives for Forested
Wetlands in the Upper Mississippi
 Using Forest Management to Restore
Ecological Functions
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The Upper Mississippi River: A
Global Ecological Treasure
The Upper Mississippi River
 Ramsar Convention: Wetland of Global
Importance (2010)
 The Upper Mississippi River National
Wildlife and Fish Refuge designated a
Globally Important Bird Area by the
American Bird Conservancy (2003)
 Designated both “a nationally significant
ecosystem and a nationally significant
commercial navigation system” by
Congress (1986)
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The Upper Mississippi River
Basin
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The Upper Mississippi River
Drainage basin includes most of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois
and parts of South Dakota and
Missouri
The Upper Mississippi River begins at
the Mississippi headwaters in northern
Minnesota
The Lower Mississippi River begins at
the confluence of the Ohio and Upper
Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois
The Upper river is sometimes split at
the confluence with the Missouri to
become the Middle Mississippi
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 2003. Nutrients in the Upper Mississippi River: Scientific
Information to Support Management Decisions The Upper Mississippi River– Values and
Vulnerability U.S. Geological Survey, USGS Fact Sheet 105–03.
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The Upper Mississippi River
Basin
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The Upper Mississippi River
The Upper Mississippi River begins at
the Mississippi headwaters in northern
Minnesota
The Lower Mississippi River begins at
the confluence of the Ohio and Upper
Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois
The Upper river is sometimes split at
the confluence with the Missouri to
become the Middle Mississippi
Drainage basin includes most of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois
and parts of South Dakota and
Missouri
Locks and dams built in late 1930s now
divide the system into “Pools”
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Current Terrestrial Landcover,
Pools 1-13
Managing the UMR
Forested communities make up about 1/5 of the total
public landbase in the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain
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Land Ownership, Upper
Miss Refuge
Managing the UMR
MN
WI
IA
21,688.3 ac
44,149.6 ac
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Land Ownership, Upper
Miss Refuge
Managing the UMR
MN
WI
IA
21,688.3 ac
44,149.6 ac
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Land Ownership, Upper
Miss Refuge
Managing the UMR
MN
WI
IA
21,688.3 ac
44,149.6 ac
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Planning!
Managing the UMR
Vision Statement: To seek long-term sustainability of
the economic uses and ecological integrity of the Upper
Mississippi River System
Overarching Ecosystem Goal: To conserve,
restore, and maintain the ecological structure and
function of the Upper Mississippi River System
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UMR Forest Restoration
Silviculture for Forest Function
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Defining Goals and Objectives
Red-shouldered Hawk
UMR Forest Restoration
Primary Objective: Wildlife Habitat
 Large, contiguous tracts of forest
 Large canopy trees
 Spatial heterogeneity
Prothonotary Warbler
Image source: Jon Stravers
Image source: Vern Wilkins, Indiana University, Bugwood.org
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Defining Goals and Objectives
UMR Forest Restoration
Attribute 1: Large, contiguous tracts of forest
 Objectives
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Afforestation (restore forest cover)
Maintain existing forest cover
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center. 2013.
Landscape Indicator Graphical Web Browser.
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/landscape_indicators/background.html
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Defining Goals and Objectives
UMR Forest Restoration
1929
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center. 2013.
Landscape Indicator Graphical Web Browser.
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/landscape_indicators/background.html
2010
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Defining Goals and Objectives
UMR Forest Restoration
2010
Elev relative to water
2010
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center. 2013.
Landscape Indicator Graphical Web Browser.
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/data_library/landscape_indicators/background.html
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Afforestation
Elevation Modification
Elev relative to water
2010
UMR Forest Restoration
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Afforestation
UMR Forest Restoration
Invasive Control/Planting
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Current Age Distribution
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Mean stand origin: 1941
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Floodplain species short-lived (100-150 years)
Mature trees are relatively flood tolerant
Regen is largely absent
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Current system wetter than historically
Following canopy disturbance, regeneration failures lead to a shift from forest
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Silvicultural Systems for UMR Floodplain Forest
 Group selection?
 Irregular shelterwoods?
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Expanding gap
Extended shelterwoods?
Clearcutting with reserves?
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Floodplain Silviculture
Floodplain Regeneration: Light
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Floodplain Regeneration: Flooding
2006
2008
2016
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Floodplain Regeneration: Microtopography
5-10% of year
90-95% of year
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 1999. Ecological status and trends of the Upper Mississippi River System
BUILDING
1998: A Report of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest
Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin. April 1999. LTRMP 99-T001. 236pp.
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Attribute 2: Large-crowned canopy trees
 Preferred nesting habitat for redshouldered hawk, bald eagle, cerulean
warbler
 Provides stable inputs of coarse woody
debris
 Wildlife trees as crop trees
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Maintaining Existing Forest
UMR Forest Restoration
Attribute 3: Spatial heterogeneity
 Mix of tree ages and sizes within stands
 Forested cover adjacent to non-forest
types
 Increases foraging habitat for species like
prothonotary warbler and cerulean
warbler
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Restoration Challenges
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UMR Forest Restoration
Silvics and disturbance in UMR floodplain forests are
poorly understood
Altered hydrology has created a “novel” system
Highly productive sites are quickly lost to competing
vegetation
Herbivory (deer and beaver)
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Challenges: Site Access
UMR Forest Restoration
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What is restoration?
UMR Forest Restoration
Back to the “Big” picture
1. In a “novel” system with an objective
of restoration, focus on maintaining
general ecosystem functions rather
than on specific compositional or
structural targets
2. Emphasize adaptive management; try
things on a small scale to see if they
work and document what happens
3. Landscape-level restoration is only as
effective as stand-level management;
invest in resources to ensure that onthe-ground restoration works
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Resources
UMR Forest Restoration
Great Lakes Silviculture Library
https://silvlib.cfans.umn.edu/
North Central Region Bottomland
Hardwoods Web-based Management
Guide
http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/fmg/nfmg/bl_har
dwood/index.html
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Questions?
[email protected]
Phone: 651.290.5899
On my mundane
commute to the
worksite*
*This is why foresters
shouldn’t be allowed to
take selfies
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What is restoration?
UMR Forest Restoration
Some things we’ve learned:
1. We need to develop modifications to
the traditional silvicultural systems
that account for unique conditions in
the UMR
2. Natural regeneration is difficult in the
floodplain; artificial regeneration isn’t
much easier
3. Boxelder is a tree (and so is
cottonwood)
4. Learning from failures is critical
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Modern Influences
UMR Forest Ecology
Increased Precip + Less Forested Watersheds = Increased Tributary Flow = Higher Average Flows
Source: Upper Mississippi River Lock and Dam 8 Embankment Modification Interim Report, 2010
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UMR Forest Restoration
The Present and Future – Cooperative Habitat Restoration
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So What’s Being Done?
UMR Forest Restoration
System-wide goals
 A functional, sustainable floodplain
ecosystem that includes a mosaic of
native vegetation communities
sufficient to support important wildlife
habitat
 Science-based decision-making:
adaptive management
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 Floodplain Forest Restoration
Objectives: Partnership Equals
Success
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Restoration objectives
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Altered Hydrology
UMR Forest Restoration
Option 2: Lower Water Levels, Pool 8 Drawdown, Water Level Mgmt Task Force
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 Floodplain Forest Restoration
Objectives: Partnership Equals
Success
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Audubon Minnesota’s Floodplain Forest
Initiative
 Forest Management: A Critical Tool for
Habitat Restoration
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Management Really Works!
Adaptive forest management to improve habitats for Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler Technical Group
Current Forests
UMR Forest Restoration
Elevation gradient (water 632 ft)
633 ft
634 ft
635 ft
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Current Forests
UMR Forest Ecology
Shallow marsh
Open water
Shrub carr
Wet meadow
Deep marsh
Shallow marsh
Floodplain Forests are Unique
5-10% of year
90-95% of year
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 1999. Ecological status and trends of the Upper Mississippi River System
BUILDING
1998: A Report of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest
Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin. April 1999. LTRMP 99-T001. 236pp.
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Current Forests
UMR Forest Ecology
Floodplain Regeneration: Light
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Source: Romano, S.P. 2010. Our current understanding of the Upper Mississippi River System
floodplain forest. Hydrobiologia 640:115-124
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Current Forests
UMR Forest Ecology
Floodplain Regeneration: Flooding
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Source: Romano, S.P. 2010. Our current understanding of the Upper Mississippi River System
floodplain forest. Hydrobiologia 640:115-124
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Current Forests
UMR Forest Ecology
Floodplain Regeneration: Flooding
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Source: Romano, S.P. 2010. Our current understanding of the Upper Mississippi River System
floodplain forest. Hydrobiologia 640:115-124
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Planning!
Managing the UMR
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A Jurisdictional Jigsaw
Puzzle
The Upper Mississippi River
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Defining Goals and Objectives
1929
UMR Forest Restoration
1938
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