History
The Missouri River, North America's longest river, has served as an important waterway throughout history. Once twisted and braided, it brimmed with marshes, oxbow lakes and sandbars that supported huge concentrations of wildlife. Native Americans recognized the river's gifts and used it as a source of food, transportation and settlements along its banks.

America's early frontier explorers, including Lewis and Clark and Major Stephen Long, used the Missouri's winding bends as a guide through the wilderness. They chronicled the geography and wealth of life along the river, providing written testimony of the Missouri's bounty. During the 1800's, the mighty Missouri supported the fur trade, and beckoned an increasing number of settlers from the east to its fertile banks.

By the middle of the 20th century, federal programs had funded upstream dams to harness and control the river's power, and channelization projects ensured that the river remained deep enough to accommodate barge traffic from Sioux City to St. Louis. These projects were valuable in controlling flooding and keeping the river navigable. However, these same projects proved to have grave consequences for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife. The channelizing and damming projects eliminated hundreds of thousands of acres of previously abundant backwaters, oxbow lakes and other wetlands.

Today, the remaining wetlands are in danger of drying up, taking with them the remnants of once plentiful fish and waterfowl breeding and rearing areas. Several species that rely on these wetlands are seriously threatened or endangered, including the pallid sturgeon, piping plover least tern and our national symbol, the bald eagle. The Missouri River, once one of North America's great wildlife corridors, is in peril.