GSS Visits Great Plains, Missouri River

In mid-October, GSS staff Kevin Stark, Nick Lemcke, and Avrey Simonson traveled from northeastern South Dakota, heading south to northern Nebraska, and following the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers to eastern Iowa. They visited eight different watersheds with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 and 6 NWI coordinators, Nina Hill and Meaghan Lamothe. The team was also joined by Sand Lake USFWS Biologist Jessica Dowler for a day. The field work was part of a wetland mapping update for these Great Plains watersheds associated with NRCS conservation easements. The week prior to this trip, GSS analyst Zack Ansell visited three watersheds between Watertown and Brookings, South Dakota for the same project. Memorable moments from the trip were the Sand Lake National Wild Refuge, which plays a major role for migratory birds associated with the Central Flyway, as well as the Niobrara River Delta. This delta, where the Niobrara flows into the impounded Missouri River, is constantly changing, and has been seeing new sediment islands forming due to the 2019 Niobrara flood.