On the Mississippi River below the bluffs that mark the far southern Minnesota-Wisconsin line, the federal government is waging a multi-million dollar campaign against the elements. For the last few weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed a 3-mile stretch of river into a floating construction zone, restoring and creating new river islands.

The goal is to restore wildlife habitat lost to a half-century of erosion and, in turn, bolstering fishing, waterfowl migration and the overall health of the river’s northern stretches. No one has tried a restoration program of this size on such a large river.

Bluegill samples taken from the area where island building and depth reductions have occurred increased from about 20 fish taken per 15 minutes in the late 1990s to about 60 fish per 15 minutes from 2002 to 2004. It’s not known for sure if the islands play a role, but other, untouched parts of river haven’t seen such increases.

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