Corps of Engineers, partners to host an open house on the Sny Magill-Effigy Mounds National Monument shoreline protection project

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is hosting an open house to discuss a draft plan to protect Sny Magill-Effigy Mounds.

The open house will be held June 25, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center, 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry, Iowa.

During the open house, the public may submit comments on the tentatively selected plan to construct a 2,000- linear-foot narrow rock berm to protect and maintain the integrity of Native American burial and ceremonial mounds. Attendees will learn more about the proposed project and have an opportunity to talk with representatives from the Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The public is encouraged to show up at any time. There is no formal presentation.

The Sny Magill Unit of the larger Effigy Mounds National Monument is located within the Upper Mississippi River Pool 10, along Johnsons Slough. The mounds are a unique and highly significant cultural resource that is a sacred landscape to the 19 culturally associated tribal nations. The Sny Magill unit is under immediate threat due to ongoing shoreline erosion. The monument is managed by the National Park Service and the area east of the Sny Magill unit is part Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which is managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Coordination and consultation with tribal nations is ongoing. If the project is approved, the boat launch at Sny Magill would be temporally closed in spring/summer 2026 for construction.

Public comments, questions, or requests for additional information may be submitted by email to NESP.ECOS.STP@usace.army.mil or via project’s website https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Rock-Island-District/Programs/NESP/sny-magill/.

This project would be a 100% federally funded cultural resource management project under the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. The program is a dual-purpose navigation and ecosystem restoration program for the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway System. The NPS and USFWS are the project’s sponsors. The Wisconsin and Iowa departments of natural resources are project partners.

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