The Rivers Project Office maintains thousands of acres of land and wetlands around the navigation pools. Society's growing concern for public lands Challenged the Corps of Engineers to use its engineering expertise to create quality open space and provide stewardship to protect native habitats. Two field offices effectively manage 110,000 acres of public land and water along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

The West Alton Riverlands area features an Environmental Demonstration Area ( EDA), on lands near the Melvin Price Locks & Dam. This 1,200 acre pre-marsh restoration is an open space reserve for an abundance of fish, waterfowl, and native marsh plants.

Riverlands offers visitors the opportunity to view large numbers of resident and migratiory waterfowl and shorebirds, as well as other wildlife that live in the wetlands. Observation areas from Clarksville, Missouri to West Atlon Missouri provide the opportunity for a glimpse of large umbers of majestic American Bald Eagles as it winters along the Mississippi River.

Rising above the prairie, in West Alton, Missouri, is a hacking tower and hacking box, which provides a shelter for endangered raptors. Over the years several federally endangered Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles have been hacked successfully and introduced in the Riverlands area. The release of these birds was done with the World Bird Sanctuary and Tyson Research Center. The World Bird Sanctuary planned the reintroduction, supplied the falcons, and monitored the hacking process. Projects in cooperation with the World Bird Sanctuary will be conducted in the future.

Riverlands Watchable Wildlife

Riverlands Wildlife Areas:

• Environmental Demonstration Area
• Ellis Bay Waterfowl Refuge
• Teal Pond
• Native Prairie Restoration
• Freshwater Marshes
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