PROJECTS
Restoring America’s Greatest River Initiative
This initiative focuses on implementing aquatic habitat restoration and river-access improvement projects. To date, 30 aquatic habitat projects have been completed and water flow has been restored to than 115 miles of side channels.
Lower Mississippi River Batture Reforestation Project
Monetary incentives are offered to landowners in the Lower Mississippi River floodplain in order to reforest cleared land. These funds are available through the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP). The project began in 2012. Conservation easements on more than 32,000 acres have been secured to date or are pending closure.
Water Quality Data Inventory
A 2021 report commissioned by the LMRCCC points to a need for a comprehensive physical, chemical and biological monitoring program for the Lower Mississippi River. The report by the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center says the LMRCC is well-positioned to plan and develop such a program.
Lower Mississippi River Basin Invasive Carp Management and Control
This initiative focuses on ways to control and manage non-native, invasive carp (Silver Carp, Bighead Carp, Black Carp and Grass Carp) in the Lower Mississippi River Basin and its major tributaries and their watersheds, including the Arkansas River, Red River, White River, St. Francis River, Yazoo River, Obion River, Big Black River and Hatchie River.
Fishing the Lower Mississippi River
The guide is available as a PDF (with clickable links) and covers topics related to fishing freshwater habitats of the Lower Mississippi River main channel, side channels, floodplain lakes and chutes from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.
Lower Mississippi River Economic Profile
The Lower Mississippi River and its associated natural resources generate $151.7 billion in annual revenue and provide 585,000 jobs, according to a new profile produced for the Lower Mississippi River Conservation Committee.
Lower Mississippi River Resource Assessment
This assessment examined the types of information necessary for river-related management; the needs of natural habitats and the species they support; and the need for more river-related recreation and public access. The final study was presented to Congress in 2016.
RECENT NEWS
Wood traps: creating new habitat for aquatic insects
Engineers have manipulated the Lower Mississippi River for 200 years. They removed large “snags” of dead trees, branches and other “woody debris” that clogged navigation channels. They lined the banks, first with large mats made from willow trees, then with mats made from concrete, to keep them from eroding. They also shortened and straightened the…
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The batture: What is it and why is it important?
What is the Lower Mississippi River “batture?” In the simplest terms, it refers to the lands and waters remaining between federal levees or bluffs along the eastern and western banks of the river. It is what remains of the river’s active floodplain. The batture covers approximately 2 million acres between Cairo, Illinois, and Baton Rouge,…
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Black Carp: New threat to native mussels and snails
Black Carp, Mylopharyngodon piceus, are raising new concerns about non-native, invasive carp species in the Lower Mississippi River. Unlike the four other non-native carp species found in the lower river, Black Carp, which can grow to 100 or more pounds, eat mussels and snails. They have pharyngeal teeth they use to crush mollusks and eat…
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Pallid Sturgeon: Living Dinosaur at Home in Lower Mississippi
Ancestors of the endangered Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) coexisted with dinosaurs millions of years ago. Fossil sturgeon specimens from North America are believed to be nearly 80 million years old. Despite this ancient lineage, biologists are just now unlocking some of the mysteries of this ancient species on the Lower Mississippi River. Through increased monitoring…
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