Boyer Chute NWR provides
fish and wildlife habitat that will enrich the entire river ecosystem. Areas along the chute were planted with
trees and shrubs native to the area to re‑create riverine habitat
conditions. From 1993 to the present,
many areas were seeded with native prairie grasses and forbs. Amid the fallow
corn crop stubble, 9,100 plants representing 44 species of native trees,
shrubs, and vines were planted in random and curving rows to simulate natural
growth.
Due to channelization of
the river, wetland drainage, and conversion of river bottom floodplain areas to
agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses, this stretch of the Missouri
River floodplain has lost over 500,000 acres of important fish. and wildlife habitat. The Refuge staff works to provide quality
fish and wildlife habitat in and along the Missouri River.
The floodplain forest grows
freely along the chute. This provides
places for birds to roost and nest, especially raptors, wood ducks, and kingfishers. It allows beaver, raccoon, opossum, and
other mammals to prosper and furnishes the seclusion along the water needed by
herons, waterfowl, and other wildlife.
It also supplies critical breeding habitat and a nursery for sport fish
species.
Public Use Opportunities
and Visitor Regulations
Recreation activities such
as nature walks, birding, and fishing, allow people to enjoy the wildlife of
the restored floodplain forest and adjacent grasslands. Visitors can enjoy two nature trails and two
education pavilion shelters located along 2 miles of graveled roads through the
Refuge. Parking areas, rest rooms, and
fishing piers are accessible.
Boyer Chute NWR is a
special place for wildlife and people. Yet, as a wildlife refuge, it is a place
where the needs of wildlife and habitat come first. Regulations are established to provide wildlife and their
habitats with adequate protection from visitors. By observing the following rules, the Refuge becomes an
enjoyable place for visitors and the wildlife they came to enjoy.
In the centuries before
European settlement in this area, the Missouri River had multiple, braided
channels. During times of flooding,
the river would change course suddenly and unpredictably across its 'wide
floodplain. Between 1820 and 1937,
natural meandering of the river moved it 3 miles eastward from the Fort Calhoun
bluffs (site of historic Fort Atkinson) to its present location.
The area that is now Boyer
Chute National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was originally an island of sand and
sediments deposited in the Missouri River by the Boyer River. Gradually, the
Missouri River eroded channels (chutes) through the sediment. One of the major channels was Boyer Chute,
named after the Boyer River, which in turn got its name from a settler who
hunted and trapped in the watershed before the time of Lewis and Clark. Missouri River explorers, including Lewis
and Clark, John J. Audubon, Prince Maximillian, and Major Long, navigated
through the area as they traveled up the river.
Boyer Chute NWR was
authorized in 1992 and established to restore and protect fish‑ and
wildlife habitat along the Missouri River and in the river floodplain. The
Refuge also provides wildlife‑dependent recreation opportunities along
the Missouri River corridor. Boyer
Chute NWR is one of over 530 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System ‑
a network of lands set‑aside specifically for wildlife. Managed by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Refuge System is a living heritage,
conserving wildlife anal habitat for people today and for generations to come.
The Refuge is a joint
Federal and local conservation partnership designed to restore a portion of the
Missouri River habitat that flows through the 2 1/2‑mile long chute and
parallels the main flow of the river.
Riparian woodland and tall grass prairie are the major upland wildlife,
habitats that are being restored and protected. These habitats benefit Missouri River fish species, migratory
birds, and resident wildlife.
The Refuge is located on
the west side of the Missouri River, 3 miles east of the town of Fort Calhoun,
Nebraska. Being 8 miles north of Omaha,
the 3,100‑acre Refuge attracts day‑use visitors from throughout the
Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area.
To create the dynamic
Refuge you see today, it was first necessary to readjust, effects resulting
from previous engineering projects. To
build up the river's main navigation channel, in 1937 the U.S.‑Army Corps‑of
Engineers cut off the upstream end of Boyer Chute by constructing a river wall
and shale dikes across the inlet.
Culverts were installed in the upstream cutoff wall to allow some water
to enter the chute, but sediments accumulated, vegetation began to grow, and a
young forest gradually took hold in and along the chute.
The purpose of today's
Boyer Chute Restoration Project, first and foremost, is to restore essential
wildlife habitat that became scarce when the Missouri River was
"improved" for navigation half a century ago. The project restores
the area to near pre‑channelization condition, without affecting
navigation on the main stem of the Missouri River. Boyer Chute is once again a functioning part of the river. Water flowing into the chute is generally
less than 5 percent of the total river flow and does not affect the commercial
or recreational value of the main river.
Construction features of
the project include excavating the historic' channel in 1994, building rock
"girdles" to keep .the chute in place, re‑vegetating soybean
and corn fields to grassland and natural habitat, planting native vegetation,
and constructing a 121‑foot concrete bridge to the "island”.
The Boyer Chute Restoration
Project was part of the region‑wide Missouri River Streambank
Stabilization and Navigation project.
It was completed by our partners, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the Papio‑Missouri River Natural Resources District.
National Wildlife Refuge
PO Box 69
Fort Calhoun, NE 68023
Ph. 402-468-4313
Ph. 402-468-4316 (fax)
U. S. Fish &
Wildlife Service
Ph. 1-800-344-WILD
August 2001
