About Us
The 24,149 acre Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge was established for the protection of migratory birds and other wildlife. Although the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has managed part of the refuge since the early 1940s, it was officially established as part of the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex in 1958. In 2004, after years of land acquisition along the Mississippi River, the refuge complex was divided into five separate refuges and Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge was officially established. It is located in Iowa and Illinois along the Mississippi River Flyway, one of the major routes for migrating waterfowl.
Each spring and fall for thousands of years, the Mississippi River corridor has served as an important migration route for millions of birds. Waterfowl provide spectacular seasonal flights with thousands of mallards, pintails, wigeons, blue and green-winged teals, scaups, shovelers, gadwalls, canvasbacks and geese using the waters. Refuge wetlands also provide important mudflats and shallow water habitats where herons, egrets and shorebirds can feed and rest. Marshy areas provide habitat for species such as rails and bitterns. The best places to see waterfowl are from the refuge overlooks on the Louisa Division.
The refuge encompasses four divisions and a portion of the Iowa River Corridor Project.
The 2,609-acre Louisa Division is located just east of Wapello, Iowa in Louisa County. It is protected from moderate flooding by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee that stretches to Lock and Dam 17 and is approximately one mile south of the division border. The levee is integral to maintaining the nine-foot navigation channel due to its proximity to the dam. The refuge visitor contact station and office are located on this division in an area that includes 48-acres of forest and a four-acre prairie restoration situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River floodplain. Providing habitat for migrating waterfowl has been the primary objective on the division since its conversion from an agricultural levee district to a national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge in the 1940s.
The 1,400-acre Keithsburg Division is located in Mercer County, Illinois. The entire division lies within Pool 18, immediately north of Keithsburg, Illinois. Keithsburg Division averages 0.75 mile in width and has a three mile long levee separating it from the Mississippi River. The division is a mosaic of wetland and bottomland forest habitat including sloughs surrounded by bottomland timber stands. The forested stands suffered from the floods of 1993 and 2008, and many snags now exist. Dead and dying trees are used by woodpeckers, wood ducks, hooded mergansers and prothonotary warblers. Bald eagles also nest in this area. The Keithsburg Division is currently involved in a Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The 1,758-acre Big Timber Division is located two miles south of Muscatine, Iowa, in Pool 17. The division is comprised of a 1,252-acre backwater area, as well as Turkey Island, Turkey Towhead, Otter Island and Ramsey Island. The bulk of Big Timber Division is a backwater of the Mississippi river, consisting of sloughs surrounded by bottomland forests.
Horseshoe Bend Division is located in the Iowa River floodplain, Louisa County, Iowa, approximately four miles upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. The 2,606-acre tract was purchased fee title by the agency in response to the Great Flood of 1993. Horseshoe Bend is a unique mosaic of grassland, wet meadow, seasonal and semi-permanently flood emergent wetland habitat. The wetland complex provides flood storage, fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage and fish spawning. The unit receives considerable migratory bird usage, including shorebirds, waterfowl, wading birds and grassland bird species.
The Iowa River Corridor Project is an innovative floodplain management focus area that encompasses 50,000 acres of land stretching along 45-miles of river in Tama, Benton and Iowa counties. Within the project area, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns more than 10,000 acres, which are part of Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. These lands are managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources through a cooperative agreement with the agency. Most of the refuge land has reverted from cropland back to its former habitat of wet meadows, oxbow wetlands, grasslands and bottomland forests with a mixture of scrub-shrub openings.
Our Mission
The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management and, where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Every national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge was created for a special purpose or purposes. Some were created to protect migratory birds, others to protect threatened or endangered species or unique habitats, while others fulfill another special purpose. All activities allowed on refuges must be evaluated to make sure each activity will not conflict with the reason the refuge was founded.
Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge, and other refuges located along the Mississippi River Flyway and floodplain, have many important purposes. The flyway serves as a resting and feeding ground for thousands of migrating birds each spring and fall. One of the refuges purposes is to serve as an inviolate sanctuary for migratory birds. The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Act uses money from Duck Stamp sales to purchase refuge lands. Many lands purchased with Duck Stamp funds were defined as inviolate sanctuaries. These lands, under most circumstances, must be at least partially closed to migratory bird hunting to allow birds a place of refuge and protection where they cannot be harmed.
Almost since their arrival in the Mississippi River Valley, European settlers began to construct levees along the river to stop the seasonal flooding of their cities, towns and agricultural lands. Then, in the 1930s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a series of dams along the river to make navigation more reliable. This triggered a series of unforeseen consequences, causing more frequent and severe flooding in areas where there were no levees. It also caused levees to be overtopped or broken. Some people lost everything - homes, crops, lives. In an effort to mitigate the flooding and provide habitat to wildlife, the federal government began to purchase lands along the river which could be intentionally flooded and help to provide relief to riverfront communities. Some of these lands were added to the National Wildlife Refuge System.
These lands help protect and conserve natural resources, conserve threatened and endangered species and allow refuge staff to manage the floodplains. Management of refuge lands must be done through cooperative agreements with other land management agencies which follow an agreed upon set of rules and regulations for the conservation, maintenance and management of wildlife, natural resources and habitat.
Refuge lands conserve and protect wetlands not only for the American people and for wildlife, they also help to fulfill international commitments that the United States has made in migratory bird treaties and conventions. Where possible, refuge lands are also open to the public as a place to enjoy fish and wildlife-oriented recreation.
Our History
1940s - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins to manage lands within the future Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge
Aug. 1, 1958 - Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge was established. The refuge included five districts - Port Louisa, Great River, Clarence Cannon, Two Rivers and Middle Mississippi River.
1993 - The Great Flood of 1993 devastated large portions of river floodplains all along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. This flood prompted the Emergency Wetland Resources Act and started the acquisition of floodplain wetlands including the Horseshoe Bend Division and the Iowa River Corridor Project.
1995 - Land acquisition began for the Iowa River Corridor Project after the Great Flood of 1993 caused 6.9 million dollars in damage along the Iowa River
2004 - Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge was disbanded and divided into five separate refuges. The Port Louisa District was renamed to the Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge.