“Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest.” – Aldo Leopold.

If it wasn’t for the forethought of individuals who recognized the importance of the Confluence and began to protect it through private acquisition, as early as the 1800’s, we and the wildlife who rely on it may not have the treasure we have today. If not for those who continue those conservation and land protection traditions, we will not have the Confluence for future generations. Special thanks should also go to those who have entered their properties into a Conservation Easement, ensuring their protection in perpetuity. And, if it was not for your support, we could not complete the critical mission of protecting the Confluence and fighting the development pressures that continue today. In this issue as in past, you will see how your support and GRHA’s efforts continue to promote the protection of the 100-year floodplain.

As we kick off the fall seasons, please, consider joining today (Membership – Great Rivers Habitat Alliance (grha.org)). As a GRHA Member you can help us advocate for the Confluence, fight against development in the 100-year floodplain, for outdoorsmen’s rights and better understand the implications of today’s policies on the future of the Confluence. With your membership purchase, GRHA is able to introduce the outdoor lifestyle to families, youth, and non-hunters, as well as promote the important connection between habitat management and our outdoor traditions of conservation in the Confluence. 

St. Louis - It seems telling to us that the 30^th anniversary of the historic 1993 flood has essentially come and gone with little fanfare or interest. This summer marks three decades since the United States experienced one of its most significant and devastating disasters – the Great Flood of 1993.

At GRHA we see this forgetfulness everyday. There is a constant attraction from developers to build in the floodplain. You only must look at the Creve Coeur Lake Apartment development in Maryland Heights or the Tall Trees housing development in St. Charles County to see this in practice. There is no doubt the Creve Coeur Lake Property will flood again. Its remnant Lake bottom, 100-year floodplain and flooded several feet deep as recently as last July 26^th rain event. Likewise, the Tall Trees housing development not only will add to traffic, safety and school overcrowding in St. Charles it will inevitably cause more flooding downstream on the Dardenne Creek watershed starting with Busch Conservation Area through the bottoms and to the Mississippi river. It was a Dardenne Creek levee that broke during that same July 26, 2022, rain event that flooded homes, businesses and hundreds of acres of cropland. Dardenne Creek Watershed and levees already have a difficult time distributing water under current conditions. Imagine adding additional impermeable surfaces and 500 plus houses at the upper end of the watershed, forcing more water at a faster rate into the system. If St. Charles County allows this development history will repeat itself, it’s only a matter of time before the next flooding disaster.

If our city leaders won’t remind us, Mother nature will continue to try and jog our memories. The Mississippi River flood of 2019 saw water levels approaching or exceeding the 1993 levels at certain locations, resulting in widespread flooding and damage to communities along the river. While not as extensive as the Great Flood of 1993, floodwaters remained for several months, prompting new discussions on flood mitigation measures. GRHA has not forgotten. With your support GRHA will continue to work working with local leadership to tackle floodplain issues rise and look to partner on watershed projects up-river that increase the open floodplain in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

During the July 26^, 2022, rainfall event, we saw the impacts of increasing the flow, volume and velocity on the Dardenne Creek, ultimately seeing a failure of the Dardenne Creek levee near Highway C and the flooding of businesses, homes and hundreds of acres of agricultural and recreational lands, along Salt River Rd, Highway C, causing damages and financial losses (see photos).

St. Charles – The 2023 GRHA Wetlands Habitat and Management workshop was held July 17-19^th 2023. The workshop is part of GRHA’s Public Awareness and Education pillar and provides training and information regarding the fundamentals of habitat management and techniques for improving habitat on waterfowl hunting properties. A combination of in-class presentations and on-site field tours demonstrate the current state-of-understanding of waterfowl and wetland ecology and contemporary hunting strategies in a practical management format. The workshop focuses primarily on moist-soil wetland types and includes landscape considerations for agriculture, forest, shrub-scrub, and emergent habitats, along with perspectives of hunting pressure of individual properties in relation to their location, size, and management objectives.

Leading the workshop was a world class team of instructors. Rarely are there opportunities to have such a wetland and waterfowl knowledge base in one room! The course was attended by 12 attendees from across Missouri and as far away as Wisconsin adding to the 17 in attendance in 2022.

Dr. Mickey Heitmeyer, owner Greenbrier Wetland Services, was the lead instructor. Mickey’s forty plus years of experience encompasses waterfowl and wetland ecology, and practical wetland and hunting management, as well as a research and teaching staff at University of Missouri and University of California - Davis, national Group Manager of Conservation Programs for Ducks Unlimited, Inc. including being the International Director of the Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research, and private consultant on over 200 waterfowl clubs. Mickey has been involved in more than 100 management workshops in 32 states, Canada, and Mexico. Dr. Heitmeyer is among the leading worldwide experts in migration and wintering waterfowl ecology, especially wintering mallards, and moist-soil and bottomland hardwood wetland habitats.

Rounding out the all-star team of instructors were Doug Helmers, retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Private Lands Coordinator for Iowa and former NRCS Administrator of Wetland Reserve Programs (WRP) for north-central Missouri; Jody Graff Owner, of Graff Habitat and Wetland Specialist for Trophy Properties & Auction; Dave Wiss0her, Ducks Unlimited’s Wetland and Rice Specialist for SE Missouri; Dan Crigler, USWFS Missouri Private Lands; and our own Mike Checkett, GRHA Executive Director.

The event once again was held at the Elm Point Holiday Inn and outdoor classrooms at Baldwin Land Co, Over & Under and Quacker hunt clubs. All meals were included with registration. GRHA is already planning on the next workshop which will be held in July 2024.

St. Peters - GRHA provided opportunities for Squadfest fair goers to learn about our conservation program and mission on July 28^th and 29^th at the Divebomb Industries annual waterfowling festival, “Squadfest” held at Lakeside 370 Park. Dive Bomb Industries Squadfest is an exciting free admission, waterfowling event for the entire family including a Divebomb store, vendor fair, dog events, seminars, duck and goose calling competitions, live music, food trucks and more.

The Development Board took the lead in manning the booth both days selling memberships, GRHA Apparel and swapping stories with people interested in helping stand up for conservation in the Confluence. Despite the extreme heat a great time was had by all, and we furthered the public’s understanding of GRHA’s critical mission to keep development out of the 100-year Confluence floodplain.

We thank the vision of Divebomb Industries owner, and GRHA Board member Cody Stokes for the opportunity and his commitment to the Confluence and waterfowling. Squadfest 2024 will be held July 19-20^th at Lakeside 370 Park in 2024.

On July 31^st 88 golfers hit the links to support GRHA’s critical mission and experience a fun day at Glen Echo Country Club. The four-man scramble format and games insured all had a great time and monies were raised to support our critical mission. Each team received a goody bag provided by sponsors, while on course games and prizes for long drive and closest to the pin added to the competition. Of course, there was a great raffle that included a 28ga Benelli, ammunition and GRHA Travel Hard Case. We would like to say thanks for the support from all partners including Top Tier Outdoors, BOSS Shotgun Shells, GFI Digital, Salt & Smoke, Dirty Duck Coffee, Concealed Comfort. Show Me Kennels. Elk Advisory Group, Hager Companies, Divebomb Industries, Green Leaf Procurement, St. Louis Bank, Siegfried Family, Brad Matheney – Louis Fusz, GS&S Construction, Wagner Portrait Group, Impact Strategies, Lord Abott, Running Bear Farms, Webster Dry Goods, Breakthrough – Yuengling.

Of course, an event like this could never be successful without the support of our sponsors and the hard work of our Development Board that hosted the event.