Grasslands @ Chain of Rocks Canal Land Mgt Area EarthCache
Hidden : 2/8/2010
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

Placed by a Geocacher who has earned GSA's highest level:



To assist the paperless cachers I am posting the requirements for this Earthcache at the begining on my Earthcache Description. I hope you find it helpful.

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Coordinates take you to the parking area at the foot of the levee to prevent parking on the levee. Please park at the coordinates and go to the levee, by the gate, to answer the questions below.

Logging Requirements:
1. Standing on the paved trail or at the gate, gaze over the grasslands and provide an estimate on the height of the grass in the uncut portion of the grassland.

2. Does the grassland area appear to be thriving or suffering at this location?

3. What impact do you think the levee has on wildlife, the prairie, and wetlands?

4. Gazing across the area from the levee, look at the grasslands and the timber areas and tell us if you believe the soil to be accommodating to the grassland or detrimental to the area?

5. We request you post a picture of yourself &/or your GPSr with the grasslands in the background from the gate on the levee road or the gate on the lower bike trail. These gates are both accessible from levee road behind the parking area.

NOTE: You may walk around the island, however hunting is permitted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. For your safety during those seasons we are only asking for pictures from the mentioned locations.

*** Please note that any answers that are not correct or submitted properly will result in the log being deleted without notice. ***

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Please note that the area where you will park is managed as part of the Choutteau Island grassland restoration by IL DNR and US Army Corps of Engineers.

BACKGROUND OF LAND MANAGEMENT AREA:

Background of Chain of Rocks Canal:

• Structure: Chain Of Rocks Canal.
• Location: River Miles 184.1 to 194.2.
• Canal Length: 8.4 Miles.
• River Elevation: 400 Feet.
• Date Opened: February 7, 1953.

By 1940, the locks and dams from Minneapolis down to Alton, Illinois, were in place and operational. The only challenge to navigation left on the upper Mississippi River was a series of rock ledges and shelves that extended for 17 miles on the north-east side of Saint Louis. Navigation through this area was impossible during lower water, and dangerous during high water.

To solve this problem, the US Army Corps of Engineers designed and built the Chain Of Rocks Canal to bypass this area. The canal ran from just south of the mouth of the Missouri River to just north of downtown Saint Louis. The canal cut across highway US-66, so a bridge had to be built over the canal. Later, when I-270 was constructed, a pair of big metal monster bridges were built just north of US-66.

Due to bedrock being so close to the surface, the canal could only be so deep. Since cutting through the rock would be dramatically more expensive, an alternate solution of providing a deeper channel was accomplished by building a dam across the Mississippi River just south of the entrance to the canal. This caused water to back up behind the dam, raising the level of the river by 3 feet, giving the canal an extra 3 feet of water depth. The dam across the Mississippi River did not need to provide for navigation. So rather than building an elaborate lock and dam structure, the US Army Corps Of Engineers simply dumped barge load after barge load of rock in the river. The water raises up behind the rocks, and then flows over the rocks.

Locks #27 are located at the south end of the canal. While the canal water level remains level at 400 feet above sea level, the Mississippi River drops nearly 15 feet in the 10 miles that are bypassed by the canal.

Background of Chouteau Island:

The area known as Chouteau Island is actually comprised of three islands, Mosenthein, Gabaret and Chouteau, which totals 5,500 acres of land. Chouteau Island is located within the Island District of The Confluence Greenway, a forty-mile open space network currently under development in the region. The Chouteau Island complex is bounded by the Mississippi River to the west and the Chain of Rocks Canal to the east. The island is directly across the canal from the new Lewis and Clark Center, approximately one mile south of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and two miles north of the Saint Louis Arch. Almost five times larger than Forest Park in Saint Louis, the island complex is rich in wildlife such as deer, turkey, coyote, dove, quail, songbirds and various species of duck, herons, egrets and much more. There have been regular sightings and nesting of Peregrine Falcons on Chouteau Island, and of course, the American Bald Eagle is frequently observed in the winter months. Excellent fishing exists in the Mississippi River near the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The 10 miles of Mississippi River that borders the Chouteau Island complex to the west is the only natural stretch of river without barge traffic between St. Paul and New Orleans.

The Mississippi River here contains some of the cleanest water in the river system as evidenced by a high quality fish community. The island complex is rich in cultural and historical resources as well. Lewis & Clark camped on the southern tip of Gabaret Island, December 11, 1803, the night before establishing their winter camp at Wood River.

The plan for the island included 2,455 acres of proposed ecosystem restoration. The ecosystem restoration improvements consisted of over 670 acres of native grasslands restoration; the conversion of over 850 acres of agricultural fields and open space to woodlands; the reestablishment of 3 miles of Chouteau and Gabaret Sloughs; and approximately 450 acres of restored wetlands.

Grasslands Biome on the Island/Canal:

The Lower Mississippi River Bottomlands Natural Division - Characteristics:

The Lower Mississippi River Bottom lands Natural Division, including the Mississippi River and its floodplain from Alton to the Thebes Gorge in southwestern Illinois, is glaciated bottomland country that used to be mostly forested with numerous marshes, wet prairies, and oxbow sloughs scattered throughout it. It historically was the wide Mississippi River bed before channelization, and is divided into a northern and southern section. The northern part of the division is also known as the American Bottoms, and it was here that the wet prairies and marshes occurred. The biome contains large sections of terrain covered in healthy grasses, seasonal plants and some woodland timber. The southern part of the division was more heavily forested. Glacial flood waters created this vast floodplain ecosystem. The soils in this natural division are finely textured, with both sandy (well-drained) and clay (poorly drained) areas, all developed from alluvium . The Mississippi River, silt-laden below the confluence with the Missouri River, contains a distinctive fish assem blage of silt-tolerant plains species (plains minnow, sturgeon chub, flathead chub, sickle fin chub).

Pre-settlement condition of this division was mostly forested, with historic wet prairies and marshes in the Northern Section. Many of the wet prairies were drained and converted into agricultural fields. These were replaced by more vast forest and bottomland swamp tree species typical of the coastal plain in the Southern Section. Aquatic habitats of this division are represented by oxbow lakes and sloughs, marshes, and springfed swamps. Some unique fish species are found only in the springfed swamps, and Gulf Coastal Plain reptiles and amphibians reach the northern-most edge of their range.

As settlers moved through the confluence region of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers on their way to settle the west they discovered the prairies, or grassland areas, contained an enormous amount of animal and bird species thriving in their environment with hundreds of plant species.

The grasslands on Chouteau Island/Chain of Rocks Canal area are the exact opposite. The grasslands in the area contain tall grass, which are saturated, humid and can sustain their growth and life through extremely hot summers and a cold winters in the region. The area averages roughly 30+ inches of rain per year and goes through two distinct seasons: growing and dormant seasons. Of course, due to the extreme temperatures in the dormant season the grass will not grow due to the cold temperatures.

The grasslands in the area support a healthy population of animals such as whitetail deer, turkey, mice, rabbits, squirrels, dove, quail, coyotes, fox, raccoons, snakes, and other upland game species that are common in the area. The animals are thriving to the point that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has opened portions of the island for residents use for hunting to help maintain healthy numbers of the species.

The continuing efforts to preserve and enhance Chouteau Island/Chain of Rocks Canal management area will stand out over time as one of this region’s most important conservation and recreation efforts, forever preserving and protecting open space for future generations in the heart of our urban community.

(Sources: Visit Source

Visit Source)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Sha naq arng nern gb ivfvg naq rkcyber. N fvzcyr jnyx sebz cnexvat nern gb gur gbc bs gur yrirr trgf lbh nyy lbh arrq gb yrnea nobhg gur tenffynaqf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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