View of the Mississippi River from Perot State Park

International Conference on Rivers and Civilization:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Major River Basins


La Crosse, Wisconsin USA
June 25-28, 2006

HOST AND PRESENTER INSTITUTIONS
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Home Page National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium Home Page

TOURS AND FIELDTRIPS

PRE-CONFERENCE TOURS (4 options)

Individuals must be at least 12 years of age to participate in tours and fieldtrips. Participants younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or teacher.

General public registration for tours and fieldtrips.

Conferee registration for tours and fieldtrips.

Large River Management I: Navigation Pool 5, Upper Mississippi River
(Friday, June 23, approximately 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; minimum 10, maximum 25 individuals; the tour fee is $30 and covers transportation, snacks, water, and box lunches).

This full-day tour departs via bus from the La Crosse Center at 7:30 a.m. and returns to the La Crosse Center at approximately 6:30 p.m. Participants will board a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers barge to view locks and dams and habitat management projects in Pool 5 of the Upper Mississippi River, near Winona, Minnesota. Participants will learn how locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River work and why biologists are working with engineers to design dams that allow fish passage. Habitat management in this area includes water level manipulations, island construction, and other projects. Experts from various governmental agencies responsible for managing the Upper Mississippi River will describe how they work together to benefit people and the natural resources of the River. (An alternate plan for inclement weather is a narrated bus tour on roads adjacent to the river.)

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium and National Rivers Hall of Fame
(Saturday, June 24, approximately 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; limited to 40 to 90 individuals; the tour fee is $20 and covers transportation and admission to the Museum & Aquarium [lunch will be on your own]).

This full-day tour departs at 9 a.m. from the La Crosse Center. The tour begins with a picturesque, 2.5 hour journey (narrated by a river historian or naturalist) via motorcoach on the Great River Road from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Dubuque, Iowa. The featured destination is the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (which is associated with the Smithsonian Institution) and the National Rivers Hall of Fame. At the Museum and Aquarium, you will "Chart a course through gators, otters, fish and more. Working riverboats, fresh water aquariums, a wetland nature trail, barge theater, touch pools, live animals and living history presentations celebrate the colorful history and cultural impact of North America's most powerful waterway." The motorcoach will leave the Museum & Aquarium at 4 p.m. and should arrive back in La Crosse at approximately 6:30 p.m. Visit the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium Web site for more information (www.rivermuseum.com).

Indian Mounds, Rock Art, and the Fur Trade: A View from Trempealeau Mountain, Perrot State Park
(Sunday, June 25, approximately 8:30 a.m. to noon; minimum 10, maximum 45 individuals; the tour fee is $15 and covers transportation, water, and a snack).

This tour departs from the La Crosse Center at 8:30 a.m. and returns to the La Crosse Center at approximately noon. This van/bus tour includes an orientation to the geologic history of the Trempealeau Bluffs and glacial melt water floods, leading to the uniqueness of Trempealeau Mountain as a landmark along the Upper Mississippi River valley. The tour includes viewing exhibits in the Perrot State Park Nature Center and a short walk to an extant mound group. The tour continues with a 30-minute walk to the sandstone overlook (great for photos) and up the Black Walnut Trail to see a small rock shelter site. The focus of the tour is prehistoric Native American life along the Upper Mississippi River as learned from Trempealeau. We will discuss the 2,000-year-old Hopewell Culture, the 1000-year-old Effigy Mound Culture, and the late prehistoric Oneota culture.

Large River Monitoring: Long Term Monitoring of Mississippi River
(Sunday, June 25, approximately 12:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; limited to 12-20 individuals; the tour fee is $15 and covers transportation, water, and a snack).

This tour departs from the La Crosse Center at 12:45 p.m. and returns to the La Crosse Center at approximately 4:00 p.m. (approximately two hours will be spent on the river). Managing Great Rivers creates special monitoring challenges, and this boat tour is your chance to have a closer look at how monitoring with a goal to inform river resource managers is actually done. Staff from three state Departments of Natural Resources (Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) will guide you through a variety of areas that represent those typically monitored among the Mississippi River's huge array of aquatic and riparian habitats. You will cruise the Mississippi River in the diverse Navigation Pool 8 near La Crosse, Wisconsin. You will observe and compare selected protocols from both the well-established 15+ year-Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) state/federal partnership and from the USEPA's newer Environmental Assessment and Monitoring Program for Great Rivers (EMAP-GRE), as demonstrated by experienced field station scientists and technicians. The setting will be informal and interactive. You are encouraged to bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, boots or shoes that can get wet, insect repellent, curiosity, and questions.

POST-CONFERENCE TOUR (1 option)

Large River Management II: Navigation Pool 8, Upper Mississippi River
(Thursday, June 29, approximately 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; minimum 10, maximum 25 individuals; the tour fee is $30 and covers transportation, snacks, water, and box lunches).

This full-day tour departs via bus from the La Crosse Center at 7:30 a.m. and returns to the La Crosse Center at approximately 5:00 p.m. Participants will board a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers barge to view habitat management projects and the effects of water level manipulations in Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River, near Stoddard, Wisconsin. Pool 8 has several habitat management projects that were started in 1988 with the last one completed in 2000; the long-term effects of these restorations are evident. Managers have also learned some lessons that are being applied to future projects. Experts from various governmental agencies responsible for managing the Upper Mississippi River will describe how they work together to benefit people and the natural resources of the River. The trip also includes a visit to the Genoa Fish Hatchery, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife facility that is working to save endangered unionid mussel species. The Upper Mississippi River was world-famous for its diverse mussel fauna; more than 40 species were present prior to European settlement and agricultural development. Mussels were also important in the cultural history of the River. (An alternate plan for inclement weather is a narrated bus tour on roads adjacent to the river)