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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District Public Affairs Office 332 Minnesota St., Suite E1500 St. Paul, MN 55101 Phone: (651) 290-5807 Fax: (651) 290-5752 cemvp-pa@usace.army.mil
Tom Lytle, engineering and construction, plants trees in Pool 8 on the Mississippi River April 20, 2012. The Corps plans to plant around 4,900 seedlings this spring.
Randy Urich, environmental section manager, prepares to plant an American elm seedling April 20, 2012. This is the third year the Corps has planted seedlings on the Pool 8 islands. Including this year, around 15,000 seedlings have been planted.
Tom Novak, Environmental Management Program project manager, plants trees on islands in the Mississippi River south of Brownsville, Minn., April 20, 2012. The Corps will plant more than 4,900 seedlings this spring on the islands, which are located in Pool 8.
Dan Reburn, forestry student, drills holes during the spring tree planting in Pool 8 on April 20, 2012. The Corps will plant more than 4,900 seedlings this spring on the islands, which are located in Pool 8.
The Corps, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or USFWS, will plant more than 4,900 seedlings this spring on islands created during the past few years of environmental rehab on the Mississippi River. Within Pool 8 there are more than 125 acres of islands providing habitat for a wide variety of species. “Through this project we’ve done a complete makeover of the river,” said Jim Nissen, USFWS Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge district manager. “It’s really been a great success story.”
With an eye toward the future, the district’s foresters developed the island planting pattern with a focus on future growth, while addressing the lessons learned from the past. Bobby Jackson, district forester, said, “We determine what species are planted, and their location based on the [island’s] elevation.” Understanding what trees do best in low-lying areas helps increase the survivability rate of the trees. Jackson said, every one of the 10 different tree species being planted this year can survive up to 30 consecutive days of flooding. He added that he hopes to have at least 75 to 80 percent of the trees survive.
Randy Urich, environmental section manager, said, one of the reasons that he’s excited about the survivability rate is because they are adding more tree species to the islands to include a very unique American elm tree.
Urich said the elms they are using are Dutch elm disease tolerant. He said the U.S. Forest Service originally found six different variations of Dutch elm tolerant parents, and they have developed cuttings that are now available to plant. He added that these elm trees are also tolerant of shade and can live with limited sunlight while taller trees grow and die. “The elms can wait and begin the second generation in the forest.”