GRHA Newsletter - 2019 Spring: Vol 13, Issue 1

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Great Rivers Habitat Alliance S P R I N G

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Floods Devastate Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern Missouri We all saw the pictures and read the stories of the terrible March floods along the Missouri River and its tributaries in America’s upper plains. As that disaster happened, many along the Mississippi River have been dealing with major flooding as well, with the potential for that river to turn into another disaster this Spring as the snowmelt from up north continues to make its way down the river. Unfortunately,

Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Active in Jefferson City Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Executive Director, David Stokes, has traveled to the Missouri Capitol Jefferson City several times this legislative session to educate state lawmakers about the benefits of smarter

the response to the flooding from too many politicians has been exactly the wrong one. Too many officials want to double-down on the failed policies of the past by expanding and enlarging the levee system along the rivers. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that an overreliance on levees has made flooding worse, and that combined with too much floodplain development and climate change,

this is precisely why we are experiencing major flooding far more frequently than in the past. GRHA has reached out to Missouri and Illinois elected officials in an effort to convince them that this is finally the time to change our planning and give the rivers room to connect to the natural floodplain. We will let you know when we hear back. (Our letter to our elected officials was written up in an April 15th article by Tony Messenger in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

floodplain policies. Stokes has supported House Bill 699 (HB 699), which gives authority to local governments to enact tighter floodplain development regulations and Senate Bill 108 (SB 108), which further restricts the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) within the floodplain. SB 108 has been passed by the State Senate and is currently being considered by the State House of Representatives as we go to print.

be held again at the Jones Visitors Center in Forest Park. We hope many of you will be able to join us for this event, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the keynote address at 6:00 p.m. (times are subject to change). This year’s keynote address will be given by Chad Pregracke, the founder of Living Lands and Waters, a group dedicated to cleaning the Mississippi River. We are grateful for our cosponsoring organizations this year, including Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Greenway Network, Sierra Club, Great Rivers Environmental Law Center, and Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper.

2nd Annual River Soundings Conference Scheduled

Last year, Great Rivers Habitat Alliance hosted our first River Soundings conference along with several other conservation and environmental groups. The conference, with a keynote address by John Barry, the best-selling author of Rising Tide, was a major success. We have scheduled the 2019 conference for Wednesday, June 26. It will

Donations Encouraged

If you would like to help Great Rivers Habitat Alliance in our opposition to the Port of Lincoln proposal as well as help support and achieve our other goals that we know are important to you, please visit our website at www.grha.org and donate today!


V I S I T

W W W. G R H A . O R G

Cap-Au-Gris Farms Pin Oak Farms II

Pin Oak Farms Prairie Prairie Flyway Club Flyaway Club

Prairie Lake Club

Fowl Play Farms

Hawthorne Club

Keeteman

Argent Club

Schramm Farm Brown Lake

Duck True-Luck Point

True-Luck

Ol’ Blue

Old River Duck Club

Drakes Landing

Richfield Club

Orchard Farm Duck Club

The Little Place

Six Gun Club

Mallard Farm

Creek Farm Club

Duck’s Rest

West Wind

Du ck Fa away rm s

Judith Ann Farms II

O&H Autumn Flight

Mel Factor

Hedgefield Farm

Duckaway Farms

Tip Top Soil Farm

Set Wings Barwise Hunt Club

Cottonwood Club

3 Rivers Duck Club, Inc.

CBQ

Flying L Farms

Westhoff Farms The Limit Club

Missouri Valley Duck Club, Inc.

Dardenne Club

The Wet Spot Mississippi Mallards

Dillard Duck Club

Waldmeister Farm

Webfoot Belleau Farm

MaraisTemps Clair Duck Club

Possum Ranch

Duckaway Farms

Judith Ann Farms I

Peruque Bend Farms

Oro Farm South

Goose Creek

Bruerewood Bottoms Hunt Club

St. Louis Piscatorial Club

Ten-Hi Farms

Bluffview Farm

Wren’s Ranch Pleasant Union Inc.

Windfall Farms

Flooded Farms Duck Club

Flyway

Mallard’s Landing

Orion

Ackerman Duck Club

Cuivre Club

Pleasant Union

High Line Farms

Widgeon Club

Prairie Marsh Farms

Pin Oak

Possum Ranch

The Roost At Maryland Hunting And Fishing, Inc.

Oro Farm North

EMAR Farm

Marshland Game Preserve

Possum Ranch

Cuivre Island Conservation Area

Raccoon Ranch Club

Marais Beckett

Garbo Farms

Golden Eagle Wildlife Preserve

Blind Luck

The Bend

Horseshoe Lake Hunting & Fishing Club

Twin Rivers

Argent Wildlife Club

Pecan Point

Donald’s Duck Club Beaver Lake

Deer Plain

Autumn Wings

Kelly

Mallard Duck Club #2 Mallard Duck Club #1 Backwoods

Presidents Club

Brussels Duck Club

Stringer Club

Flying D’s

M Co arie ns s T erv em atio ps n A Cla rea ir

Wehde-N-Shoot

Flyway Farm

Purdy Farm Duck Club

Blue Wing Farm

Silver Farm

Back Water Farms Purdy Farm Duck Club

Bethman’s Farm Duck Club

Mallard’s Nest

D U C K C L U B S I N S T. C H A R L E S C O U N T Y A ND S O UTHE R N L I N C OL N C O UN T Y

Affy’s

Whistling Wings

Mallard Point Farms

Baldwin Land Co.

Dillard Atey Duck Farms Club

Paddlefoot St. Peters Duck Club Francis’s

Golden Eagle Hunt Club

Over & Under

Flying B

1000 Oaks

Anderson Club

Poor Boy Duck Club Schlenke Heirs

Seven Oaks Farm Rothermich Club

Once Around

Deep Lake Club

2017 Sixth Printing Edited by Tim Sheahan Designed by Mark Illig

Prairie Marsh North Winds

Sunrise Duck Club

This map is dedicated to A. William Hager (1924 - 2012), a great conservationist and sportsman, who faithfully managed the printing of this map from 1977 through 2007.

Photos by Fred Greenslade Delta Waterfowl Printing by Repco Solutions

2007 Fifth Printing

1977 Second Printing

1997 Fourth Printing

1956 First Printing Louis A. Hoerr II

1987 Third Printing

CLARKSVILLE Old Pecan Hunt Club Stone Farm

Mid-Rivers Club Banded Brothers Pintail Farms Mid-Rivers Club

Black Dog Land Co., LLC Green Wing

Fossick Farm

Upper Deck Northwinds

Goose Pasture Club

Mid-Rivers Club

Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge

ANNADA

I

O

F

bs Duck Clu N

D

E

X

Wetland Farms

Indian Hills Club The Legends Malinmor Hunt Club

Bryant Creek Farm

TAKEMNOW Duck Club Just-One-More Club North Club No Chinkapin Farms, Inc. Hunt Club

Golden Eagle Farm Little Cannon North 40 Duck Club

Phat Mallard

High Ball

The Cronin Boys Duck Club

Annaberry

Sidener Side den ener Club

Prairie Slough White Oak Ducks

Puree Farms

rles, In St. Cha Counties d Pike an ln co Lin

Diamond Drake The P. Hole

Schulte Construction

Prairie Slough Conservation Area

B.K. Leach Memorial Conservation Area

Hammerin Hole

ELSBERRY B.K. Leach Memorial Conservation Area

Dyer Farms Mallard Bend Hunting Club

Keiser Farms Lost River

l Waterfow e / Delta Greenslad

Wingshoot Farms Duck Club Marre Farms

Twin Lakes

Fox Farms

Burke Farms

Fred

Nooker Duck Club

By Photography

DUCK CLUBS IN LINCOLN AND PIKE COUNTY 2017 Inaugural Printing Edited by Tim Sheahan & David Stokes Designed by Mark Illig

D4 Outfitters ILLINOIS RIVER

Benelli Club

FOLEY

Photos by Fred Greenslade Delta Waterfowl

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Printing by Repco Solutions Cap-Au-Gris Farms

WINFIELD

Pin Oak Farms II Wehde-N-Shoot

Pin Oak Farms

Flyway Farm

Hawthorne Club

StringerClub

Prairie

Keeteman

Prairie Flyway Club Flyaway Club

e at Allianc ers Habit Great Riv Box 50014 PO 105 , MO 63 St. Louis 8-1007 314-91

N T Y T W E

E E N E N T S E V

Prairie Lake Club

Fowl Play Farms Mallard Duck Club #2

Kelly Argent Club Schramm Farm Brown Lake

Argent Wildlife Club

Flying D’s Autumn Wings

Cuivre Island Conservation Area

Mallard Duck Club #1

© GREAT RIVERS HABITAT ALLIANCE 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Duck Club Maps for sale

If you are interested in purchasing one of the beautiful 2017 duck club maps, they are still available for sale. Both the sixth printing of the St. Charles County map and the inaugural Lincoln and Pike counties map are available. Each map is $400, which is taxdeductible. (There is a discount if you purchase both maps.) Map sales will support the work of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, Ducks Unlimited, and Delta Waterfowl. They are sold unframed, but we are happy to recommend a frame shop at your request. Please contact our office at 314-918-1007 to arrange a time to come by and purchase your updated duck club map for your hunt club, office, man cave, or trophy room!


S P R I N G

Save The Date for the 2019 Great Rivers / Ducks Unlimited Partnership Event

Great Rivers Habitat Alliance’s sixth annual Partnership Event with Ducks Unlimited will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at the Hyland Arena on the campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles. Please save the date and plan on joining us to support both groups. This year, we will be honoring the memory of a great Cardinal, passionate outdoorsman, and beloved community leader, Albert “Red” Schoendienst. St. Louis Cardinals’ announcer, Dan McLaughlin, has graciously agreed to be the Master of Ceremonies for the event. More information on the event will follow!

Wood Duck Boxes to be Installed by GRHA in Lincoln County

Great Rivers Habitat Alliance (GRHA) is installing three Wood Duck Boxes on property we now own in southeastern Lincoln County. It is our hope that the boxes, which were designed by volunteers and generously provided to GRHA by Tim James of Ducks Unlimited, will play a roll in keeping the region’s wood duck population strong by giving wood ducks a place to safely give birth.

months and were hoping to begin construction within one year. It has now been six months since they made that claim and we do not believe they have applied for any permits to-date. Hopefully, this project will never move forward with all its planned floodplain and habitat destruction. But if it does, rest assured that GRHA will do everything in our power to lead a team of citizens and organizations to stop Port of Lincoln. Sny Island Levee District: Great Rivers is still awaiting a response from our letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which strongly encouraged the agency to act against the Sny Island Levee District and other levee districts along the Mississippi River with improperly high levees. We have encouraged many other non-profits to exert similar public pressure. FEMA is the agency with the authority to enforce the levee heights laws that several levee districts in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa have so far disregarded and flouted. Maryland Heights: The City of Maryland Heights has given mixed messages in recent months regarding their plans to develop the floodplain north of Page Avenue and west of Highway 141. The city flouted its own planning and public engagement process and approved a new commercial development within the floodplain next to Creve Coeur Airport. The airport is strongly opposed to this plan, which was passed over its objections. In better news, the city recently rejected a separate commercial development proposal within that same region. We remain engaged with the city as part of their long-term planning process for that area. It is our great hope that they will ultimately demonstrate greater concerns for the environment and flood safety when they finalize their development plans.

President’s Column By Chris Hyams Policy Updates

Port of Lincoln: In early October 2018, representatives of Port of Lincoln, USA announced on their Facebook page that the project in Lincoln County was ready to move forward. They stated that the project would begin applying for permits in three to six

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The preservation of the 100-year floodplain is not the only environmental concern around the Confluence. There are many others issues that impact this ecologically vital region. While Great Rivers Habitat Alliance (GRHA) will always maintain our focus on the floodplain and wetlands, we address these other related issues when we can in pursuit of the goals of clean water, flood safety, and clean air. Light pollution, pipelines, and telecommunications towers

are three issues that impact the environment and wildlife around the Confluence. Our Executive Director, David Stokes, has testified before local government bodies several times regarding the placement and construction of telecommunication towers along the Mississippi Flyway. These towers pose a serious risk to migratory birds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has published very helpful guides on how to build towers in a manner that significantly reduces bird collisions. Stokes has encouraged communities to adopt these guidelines when approving new towers along the flyway, and he has the full support of our board in doing so. Light pollution is another area of concern. Too many industrial, commercial, and residential lights along the Mississippi Flyway are impacting the annual migrations. Like the cell towers, there are reasonable guidelines in constructing light systems that face downward as much as possible. Developments along the flyway should construct lighting designs in a way that minimizes how much light travels skyward, affecting the instinctual paths that birds have been traveling for thousands of years. GRHA is launching an effort to encourage developers and zoning authorities to enact guidelines on lighting within the Greater Confluence-area. You will hear much more about this plan in the future. Finally, the pipeline spill in St. Charles County in February has brought home to many of us the risks from the pipelines going through such a valuable ecosystem. GRHA intends to become involved in making sure that pipeline locations are carefully chosen, the equipment is properly maintained, and the entire process is appropriately regulated. We believe the Confluence deserves such vigilance on this important issue.


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Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Rivers PO Box 50014 t Alliance St. Louis, MO 63105 50014 is, MO 63105 9900 Clayton Road Suite D Clayton St. Road Louis, MO 63124 D is, MO 63124 Phone: 314-918-1007 E-mail: dstokes@grha.org 314-918-1007 E-mail: karen@grha.org dstokes@grha.org karen@grha.org Follow us on Twitter: @GRHAmo us on Twitter: Amo Follow us on Facebook: GreatRiversHabitatAlliance us on Facebook: iversHabitatAlliance

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