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The first leg of The Corps’ journey gave the men their first glimpse at rare and enchanting landscapes. They traveled along the Missouri River — an ever-changing landscape of meandering channels, islands, sandbars, backwater wetlands and woodlands. They walked amid the prairies that flanked much of the river’s northern side and, along the southern bank, they could see the ancient Ozarks, an unglaciated, rugged landscape, in the distance. In Missouri alone, they traversed two distinct ecoregions, or areas defined by their distinct climate, geology and native species. A rich diversity of life surrounded them.
Missouri River
Lewis and Clark would not recognize today’s lower Missouri River, which now is a single, swift deep channel. Much of the sandbars and wetlands that wildlife need to feed, reproduce and rest no longer exists. This habitat loss and altered water flows have contributed to the decline of fish species, such as paddlefish, sturgeon and flathead catfish. Bald eagles lack nesting trees and continue to decline along the Missouri.
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In Their Own Words... |
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"We Camped in the plain, one of the most butifull Plains I ever Saw, open & butifully diversified with hills & vallies all presenting themselves to the river covered with grass and a few scattering of trees, a handsom Creek meandering thro."
~ Clark | |
The Conservancy’s new Missouri River Program is working across state lines — Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska — to protect and restore some of the landscapes Lewis and Clark encountered in 1804. Along this leg of the journey, in Missouri, the Conservancy helped create the 10,000-acre Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge. Eventually, this refuge is expected to encompass 60,000 acres along the river.
Missouri’s Great Prairie
Clark spoke poetically when describing the wildflowers of the prairie. Lewis records the many grasses that thrived in the prairies along the river, including the most abundant grass — big bluestem.
The Conservancy is working with numerous partners to preserve the state’s prairie habitats. One of these places, the Grand River Grasslands landscape, for example, is an immense 32,000-acre project area that straddles the Missouri/Iowa border. In Missouri, it consists of more than 4,000 acres at the Conservancy’s Dunn Ranch and Pawnee Prairie preserves, which sports an array of wildflowers, grasses and grassland birds, including Henslow's sparrows, upland sandpipers, sedge wrens and grasshopper sparrows.
The Ancient Ozarks
The 34 million-acre Ozarks is an ancient, unglaciated landscape. This region is home to 407 species that are identified as conservation targets by the Conservancy — 160 of which occur nowhere else in the world. It also provides critical habitat for neotropical migratory birds and harbors many rare fish species.
The Ozarks include an incredible variety of landscape types, from pinery, glade to oak woodlands, savannas and unusual igneous rock knobs, formed more than a billion years ago from molten lava. The Conservancy is working throughout this region with its many partners — at places like the Bennett Spring Savanna — to preserve and restore it for future generations.
More: The Missouri River — Its Mighty Waters | 
