The Mighty Mississippi River
"Mississippi" is Algonquin for
"big river"
- aptly named for being
over 2,300
miles in length
It is the world's second largest
drainage basin measuring over 16,500 miles from its more than 250
tributaries, which encompass 30 US states and 2 Canadian provinces.
It has the greatest water carrying
capacity of any river on the North American continent, providing the Gulf
of Mexico with more than 90% of its fresh water.
The river provides a habitat for 278
fish and mussel species
Its bluffs and bottomlands support 45
amphibious and reptile species and over 50 species of mammals
40% of the nation's migratory waterfowl
depend on the Mississippi corridor for their flyway.
The river sustains over 5 million acres of forested wetlands and provides over 18 million people with their daily water supply.
Wintering bald eagles perch and roost along the forested limestone bluffs of the Mississippi River and its backwaters. The endangered yellow crowned night heron also lives in the wetlands. Yet, the critical wetland habitat continues to give way to industrial parks.
We need to promote the conservation of entire ecosystems. If we are truly to halt the decline in biodiversity, we must conserve ecosystems as a whole. By conserving entire ecosystems, we are conserving those species that depend upon them. We can't halt the decline of species if we continue to allow the destruction and fragmentation of ecosystems.
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