Kaskaskia Island

A Vision for a Healthy River

In the 1950s, much of the fertile ground along the Middle Mississippi River was cleared for soybean production, including flood-prone lands unprotected by the levee system. On 16,000-acre Kaskaskia Island much of the farmland is protected by a levee, but land outside the levee had also been farmed, despite frequent flooding.

ALC placed a conservation easement over 2,110 acres of farmland to be restored as woodlands and wetlands. Retiring the flood-prone portion of the land reduces agricultural runoff, which damages water quality in the river and the Gulf of Mexico. Acquiring the island benefits pallid sturgeon, an endangered native fish that breeds in the area. ALC donated the property to the Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge.

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