Emergent Sandbar Habitat Program improves Missouri River nesting areas
A helicopter operated by a contracted vegetation control service prepares to land on a mix truck to refill spray tanks with herbicide near Niobrara, Nebraska, Sept. 26, 2025. The herbicide will be applied to sandbars in the Missouri River to improve the nesting habitat of the threatened Northern Great Plains piping plover. The piping plover has very limited nesting areas and prefer coarse sand or gravel beaches on sandbars not connected to adjacent riverbanks. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Delanie Stafford)