Windy Bar

Preserving natural bluffs on the Mississippi

In early June 2008, ALC conveyed 705 acres of critical wetland habitat to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), a pivotal moment in an 18-year effort by agencies and conservation groups to protect the area. The Windy Bar property, a forested island/side channel complex on the middle Mississippi River, is located several miles north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Windy Bar is situated in the Cape Hills Conservation Opportunity Area of the Missouri Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy and was a high priority acquisition for the MDC. The parcel includes a unique interior tributary that drains hundreds of acres of wooded upland and is one of the few floodplains on the Mississippi defined by natural bluffs rather than man-made levees.

Cottonwood and willow forests, bottomland hardwoods, forested wetlands, sand bars, and riparian areas on the island provide exceptional fish and wildlife habitat. Windy Bar is frequently visited by bald eagles and other raptors such as red-tailed hawks, and is considered an important resource for the recovery of threatened and endangered species such as the Pallid Sturgeon, Least Tern, and Indiana Bat.

The acquisition complements an earlier ALC project that protected 2,741-acre Devil’s Island, just across the river from Windy Bar. Now residents and visitors can enjoy two publicly-accessible properties on both sides of the river just ten miles north of Cape Girardeau. Public access is currently via the river, but long-term management plans may include access by land.

• Read the press release
  
• See article on Windy Bar dedication event
  
• Missouri Dept. of Conservation Windy Bar information page