July 1994
the monthly newsletter for people who live, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
Vol. 2, No. 7
$2
Someday, Fish May Detour Dams
Iowa Ups the Ante •1n Riverboat Gamble
By Rob Drieslein
By Bill Jacobs
Despite its poor publicity, the flood of
Iowa founded the modern riverboat
1993 allowed a wonderful reunion on the upper Mississippi River. During the high water, river biologists and anglers as far north as La Crosse and Winona, welcomed the return of the skipjack herring. Once a common species on the upper Mississippi, the small fish disappeared after the locks and dams were built. Lock and Dam 19 at Keokuk, Iowa, is now as far north as they normally travel. Massive amounts of water flooding the river last summer forced dams, including the one at Keokuk, to raise their roller gates, allowing the river to flow freely. With an open path to the north, the ancient instincts of the migratory skipjack triumphed. Unfortunately for species such as skipjack herring, major floods don't occur every year. Therefore, they remain confined to certain pools and regions of the river. They're
gambling industry in 1991 and did everything wrong. Its experience is instructive, though. The state tried to hold gambling at arm's length, collecting the taxes while holding its nose and trying to minimize the moral degradation that opponents said would follow in the wake of the false sternwheelers that began plying the river. This year the Iowa legislature changed its stance, mainly because most of the Iowa gaming boats had picked up their gangplanks and sailed to more hospitable gambling waters, taking about 1,500 jobs and millions in tax revenues with them. Now boats are returning, thanks to a new Iowa law that lets counties decide by referendum whether or not to allow gambling. By last May, all of the Mississippi River counties had approved gambling on riverboats without the restrictions that Iowa originally created to keep it wholesome.
Bass, walleye, sturgeon and paddlefish, among others, have an urge to migrate, usually during spawning. not alone: bass, walleye, sturgeon and paddlefish, among others, have an urge to migrate, usually during spawning. In 1992, a dozen smallmouth bass carrying Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources radio transmitters moved through several open dams during high water. Ron Benjamin, a river biologist with the DNR, believes the fish didn't halt at Lock and Dam 5, the Whitman Dam, by coincidence. In the St. Paul District, the Whitman Dam is usually the
(Fish Detours continued on page 7)
(Riverboats continued on page 3)