WisBusiness: New Plan for Upper Mississippi

A compromise environmental protection plan for the Upper Mississippi River Refuge was released Sunday by the National Fish and Wildlife Service.

The alternative plan is seen as a compromise between conserving the resources of the refuge and continuing access for more than 3.7 million visitors. It was drafted after hunters, fishers and others protested proposed plans earlier this year.

Called Alternative E, the new plan will be open for a 60-day comment period and another round of open houses.

Alternative E calls for growth of Fish and Wildlife Service staff and services, increases in river access for non-motorized recreation, significant land acquisition and the creation or expansion of so-called “closed areas” in sensitive waterfowl feeding/resting areas.

The plan eliminates some of the more unpopular proposals, such as stricter limits on waterfowl hunting, fees for boat ramps and hunting in some higher-density areas, restrictions on camping and some other uses.

The Fish and Wildlife Service would expand from 37 staffers to 63 by 2015. It would build new offices and maintenance shops in the Winona, La Crosse and McGregor districts. Pending congressional approval, its current $4 million annual budget would increase an average of $1.63 million annually.

The Fish and Wildlife Service would acquire an average of 1,000 acres of land along the refuge a year, most of it along the river bottoms. In addition, the agency would protect bluff land from willing sellers through protective easements or fee-title interest.

Funds for land acquisition come from a Land and Water Conservation Fund, fed by offshore oil and gas leases.