Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to visit Boyer
Chute National Wildlife Refuge, 3 miles east of Ft. Atkinson State
Park, outside Ft. Calhoun, NE. Many years ago, this Chute was
closed off; there is now a massive restoration project underway to
re-open it. While in the refuge, please read and obey all posted
rules and regulations.
Equipment required: Please stop by requisition before you
leave, and pick up a working camera and a GPS receiver unit.
Without these, your mission will fail.
Background Information: Much like the hair of some of our
female agents, the Missouri River is considered "braided" - or at
least it used to be. A braided river is defined as a river with
multiple channels, separated by temporary islands. These channels
and islands shift, grow, or disappear completely, usually during
floods.
Boyer Chute is one of these channels. That is, it was once, and
is now again. Natural forces did not block it off; in 1937 the Army
Corp of Engineers, in the process of straightening the Missouri
River to deepen and contain it for ease of navigation, and
reclaiming farmland, blocked off the north end of the Chute. This
changed the nature of the land, drying it out. With the changing of
their natural habitat, the prairie wildlife began disappearing from
Boyer Chute, including many endangered species.
Recognizing this, some 56 years later, in 1993, restoration work
was begun on the area. The closed off end of the Chute was
re-opened to allow water to flow through, and the area was reseeded
with plants previously found to have grown there. In 1997, wetland
restoration of areas beyond the Chute was begun - including removal
of silt layers, and careful reshaping of feeder streams and other
chutes. Work on this continues to the present day, leading to your
current assignment. Remember, you are to observe and record
only.
Mission brief: Wait, you mean you still don't know what
you need to do when you get there? Oh, very well. There are three
areas that headquarters is particularly interested in. Oddly
enough, they are the north end of the Chute, the center, and the
south end (optional). Further details follow:
- At the North end - roughly N 41 27.702 W 95 57.514 - please
study the area carefully and describe it as best you can. What, if
any methods of river control can you see? Are there any obvious
ways of controlling erosion?
- Proceed to the main parking lot at N 41 27.103 W 95 57.062. You
will encounter a number of informational and education signs there.
From these signs, headquarters requires the following information:
- In 1804, what were some of the major obstacles in travelling up
the Missouri? Do any of these exist today?
- With the replacing of the native trees, shrubs, and vines, what
two food crops are no longer grown on the island?
- When did the two annual flood cycles occur?
- While you are there, you might as well head over to the bridge
that crosses the Chute at N 41 27.050 W 95 56.080. It has been
reported to us that the bank just beyond the bridge has an unusual
shape. Take note of it and make a guess why it might be this
shape.
- Finally, you may proceed to the south end - but cacher, beware!
The closest point to the southern junction that you are permitted
at, at this time, is N 41 26.198 W 95 56.495. Heed the posted signs
and venture no further - secret experiments are going on past this
point, and it is forbidden. However, for extra credit, compare what
you can see in the south to what you saw at the bridge. How is the
Chute different?
- Please take a picture of yourself and/or your GPS at any of the
above points, for headquarters' permanent records.
Once you have completed these tasks, email all data to me for
verification, and post the picture in your log. Without this
information, your mission will FAIL… no smiley for you!
This earth cache will self-destruct in five eons. As usual, if
you are caught, headquarters will disavow any knowledge of your
activities. (Well, okay, not really.) Good luck, cacher!
Placed by an:
