The least tern and piping plover are shore birds that nest along the banks of, and on sandbars in, the Missouri River. Changes to the river have led to less habitat for the birds. At times, predation and human disturbance of bird nests have also contributed to reduced bird success. The interior least tern was listed as endangered in 1985, and the piping plover was listed as threatened in 1986.

Every May through August, the Corps monitors the number of adults, nests, and fledglings produced on the river and reservoir reaches. Please go to the Science page for a list of the Corps' management actions for the least terns and piping plovers.  

   Interior Least Tern

For information on the Interior Least Tern, please follow this link to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website:  https://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/birds/leasttern/index.html.

Thanks in part to successful recovery efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering delisting the interior least tern.    

   Piping Plover

 For information on the Piping Plover, please see the below links to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website:

• https://www.fws.gov/plover/facts.html
• https://www.fws.gov/plover/q&a.html
• https://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/pipingplover/pipingpl.html

Pallid sturgeon numbers began declining over 100 years ago, and it was listed as an endangered species in 1990. Engineered changes to the river have changed habitat and the fish community. Understanding which factors are suppressing pallid sturgeon numbers and what actions can be taken to benefit pallid sturgeon is a current focus of management efforts on the Missouri River. The Corps funds federal and state partner agencies to raise pallid sturgeon in fish hatcheries and stock them into the Missouri River as one way to begin to improve sturgeon numbers. The Corps and partner agencies also monitor the fish’s numbers along the river, including looking for naturally-produced pallid sturgeon.      

   Pallid Sturgeon

For information on the Pallid Sturgeon, please see the below links to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website:

• https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/fisheries/missouriRiverFWCO.php  
• https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/pallidSturgeon.php
• https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/fishes/PallidSturgeon/palld_fc.html  

Please see the Science page for information on Pallid Sturgeon Hatchery Support.

The Missouri River, the nation's longest, travels over 2,300 miles from Three Forks, Mont., to join the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Mo.

River History

For centuries, the river has served as the center of life for the inhabitants of North America's Great Plains. Following exploration and mapping by Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery in the early 1800s, the Missouri River became the gateway to the west.

Historically, the dynamic and untamed Missouri River has produced violent floods in the spring and summer with erosive forces that ate away its banks and turned its waters the color of mud.

Since Lewis and Clark returned from their expedition, the Army Engineers have had very close ties to the Missouri River. Over the years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been charged by Congress to remove snags, protect banks, construct navigation channels and build flood risk management structures (levees and dams) on the Missouri River to provide social and economic benefits to the nation. Some of these development activities on the Missouri River have come at the expense of the river's native fish and wildlife.

The River Today

Today, the Missouri River hosts a wide variety of interests and uses, all of which are considered in the river's recovery program. They include the authorized purposes of the Missouri River Main stem Reservoir system of fish and wildlife, flood control, hydropower, irrigation, navigation, recreation, water supply and water quality. Other important considerations include Tribal interests, cultural resources, and ecosystem services.

These uses have resulted in significant impacts to the Missouri River ecosystem:

• Three million acres of natural river habitat altered
• 51 of 67 native fish species now rare, uncommon or decreasing
• Reproduction of cottonwoods, historically the dominant floodplain tree, largely has ceased
• Aquatic insects, a key link in the food chain, reduced by 70 percent