WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

7:00 am - 9:00 am - Registration

Registration on field trips is first-come, first-served. Our field trips have always been a symposium highlight, so we encourage you to make your reservation early in order to secure a spot on the trip of your choice. All trips include transportation and lunch. Guests and spouses of attendees may sign up for field trips on a space-available basis.

Note: If weather is severe or river flows are too high, most of the water-based field trips will be cancelled. Participants should be prepared for variable weather (cool 40’s and rainy to hot 90’s and sunny). Bring a dry bag, change of clothes, towel, sunscreen, insect spray, hat, rain jacket, old tennis shoes or river sandals/shoes, and water bottle. If you do not have a personal PFD to bring, over-the-head orange life vests will be provided. Please note that you may be placed in a canoe or kayak with someone who has unknown paddling skills.

Field Trip 1 - Missouri River - Motor Boat Tour, Brooky Bottoms to Ponca State Park
(8:00 am – 5:30 pm; motor boats)

Take a motor boat trip on the Missouri National Recreational River with agency personnel involved in a wide array of management issues. Employees from the National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks will share stories and provide insights on threatened and endangered species (interior least tern, piping plover, pallid sturgeon, and bald eagles), habitat creation, developments (recreational and agricultural), land acquisitions and easements, invasive species management, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and much more.

Limit: 140
Cost: $25

Field Trip 2 - Missouri River - Highline Landing (Myron Grove) to Mulberry Bend
(7:00 am-5:30 pm; flat-water float via canoe, kayak, or sea kayak near Vermillion, SD)

Float past chalk banks, forested Goat Island, and sandbars where the threatened piping plover and endangered least tern live (12-mile float). Rangers from the Missouri National Recreational River will accompany the floaters and discuss pertinent river management topics like emerging steamboats, exotic species, and water management issues. Enjoy a catered lunch at Mulberry Bend. Afterwards, visit Spirit Mound where a Lewis & Clark re-enactor will entertain participants. There will be ample opportunities to observe wildlife.

Limit: 30
Cost: $75

Field Trip 3 - Missouri River - Mulberry Bend to Indian Hills
(7:00 am - 5:30 pm; flat-water float via canoe, kayak, or sea kayak near Vermillion, SD)

In the morning visit Spirit Mound and stand in the very spot that Lewis and Clark visited in 1804–a historical re-enactor will entertain participants here. Both Missouri River groups will meet for a catered lunch at Mulberry Bend. After lunch, canoe the river where you’ll pass near the famous “Ionia Volcano”, see the confluence of the Vermillion River, and search for nesting bald eagles soaring near bluffs on the Nebraska side (9.5-mile float). Rangers from the Missouri National Recreational River will accompany boaters and discuss pertinent river management issues like emergent sandbar habitat construction and threatened and endangered species. There will be ample opportunities to observe wildlife.

Limit: 30
Cost: $75

Field Trip 4 - Little Sioux River - Linn Grove to Peterson
(7:00 am - 5:00 pm; canoe/kayak paddle on Class I flat-water near Linn Grove, IA)

Paddle a winding 12.5-mile stretch of the Little Sioux River that flows through a rural countryside of hardwood forests. Linn Grove is known as the Catfish Capital of Iowa. You’ll travel a portion of the Old O’Brien Glacial Trail Iowa Scenic Byway and tour the Waterman Prairie as a side trip. At the beginning of the Inkpaduta Canoe Trail, learn about Project AWARE, a Department of Natural Resources program to garner public participation in cleaning up Iowa Rivers. A local ranger will guide the river trip. Enjoy a sack lunch on a sandbar with opportunities to see songbirds, nesting bald eagles, ducks, geese, hawks, beaver, muskrats, and river otters.

Limit: 40
Cost: $55

Field Trip 5 - Little Sioux River - Washta to Correctionville
(8:00 am - 4:00 pm; canoe/kayak paddle on Class I flat-water near Correctionville, IA)

Take a leisurely float on an 11-mile stretch of the Little Sioux River through timber-covered banks of cottonwood, silver maple, and willows, and rolling hills of tallgrass prairie. The Little Sioux has possibly the best walleye fishing in the state. You will see numerous ducks and shorebirds, pass several bridges, and encounter snags and log jams as river obstacles to avoid. Enjoy a catered BBQ lunch at the take-out in Little Sioux Park. A county park ranger will discuss river issues, and you’ll visit a restored wetland.

Limit: 20
Cost: $55

Field Trip 6 - Big Sioux River - Big Valley Landing to Oak Ridge
(7:30 am - 5:30 pm; canoe paddle on Class I+ river near Fairview, SD)

Float 13 miles of the Big Sioux River , including maneuvering through glacially deposited boulders and a spirited riffle. See Newton Hills State Park where glaciers created a narrow strip of rolling hills and forest that is part of a geological formation known as the Coteau des Prairie. Here, a Woodland Indian Culture inhabited the region between 300 B.C. and 900 A.D. Hike a short trail in this charming park where over 200 species of birds make their home. Enjoy a riverside lunch in Fairview at the Settlers Canoe Access. Tour the Valiant Vineyards in Vermillion, SD, before heading back to South Sioux City.

Limit: 40
Cost: $50

Field Trip 7 - Big Sioux River - Johnson’s Crossing to Trent, SD
(7:00 am - 6:00 pm: canoe paddle on Class I flat-water near Trent, SD)

Float eight miles of the Big Sioux through wooded, rolling hills, prairie, and agricultural lands. This is an excellent opportunity to see wildlife such as beaver, river otter, white-tailed deer, turtles, osprey, and migrating bald eagles. At the take-out, enjoy a catered meal at the River of the Double Bend Campground. Side trips to Devil’s Gulch and Palisades State Park are options. Tour Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD, and learn about the city’s greenspace development and water-based recreation on the Big Sioux River which winds through town.

Limit: 20
Cost: $60

Field Trip 8 - De Soto National Wildlife Refuge
(8:00 am - 5:00 pm; vehicle/walking tour and wildlife viewing near Missouri Valley, IA)

Spend the day exploring the De Soto National Wildlife Refuge, 80 miles south of Sioux City . The refuge lies on the wide plain formed by prehistoric flooding and shifting of the Missouri River . Each spring and fall spectacular flights of ducks and geese travel along this traditional waterfowl flyway. The refuge also tells the story of the steamboats that carried supplies and passengers to Upper Missouri River trading posts and settlements. More than 400 steamboats sank in the Missouri River; the 1860-era sternwheeler Bertrand was discovered on the refuge in 1968 and unearthed the following year. The refuge preserves the site of this discovery and, at the visitor center, displays many of the thousands of artifacts recovered from the hull.

Limit: 47
Cost: $30

Field Trip 9 - Loess Hills Tour
(9:00 am - 4:00 pm; vehicle/ walking tour north of Sioux City)

The Loess Hills rise 200 feet above the flat plains, forming a narrow band running north-south 200 miles along the Missouri River. Loess is the source of most of our nation’s rich agricultural soils. Thousands of years ago, active glaciers covered much of the northern United States. When they melted, fine silt particles were exposed. Eventually, strong windstorms blew these silt particles, or loess, into mounds several hundred feet thick on both sides of the Missouri River valley. This natural phenomenon only occurs in two places in the world, China and along the Missouri River in western Iowa. This bus and walking tour along the Loess Hills Scenic Byway may be your chance of a lifetime to see the rare and unusual land formations and plant and animal life found on the Byway. After an orientation stop at the Dorothy Peacaut Nature Center just north of Sioux City , we will continue north to Stone State Park and the Broken Kettle Grasslands, the latter being managed by the Iowa Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. A naturalist from The Nature Conservancy will accompany us.

Limit: 47
Cost: $30

Field Trip 10 - Gavins Point Dam / Yankton Area Tour
(9:00 am - 5:00 pm; vehicle/ walking tour around Yankton, SD)

Gavins Point Dam is the last of the mainstem dams on the Missouri River system. While its primary function is re-regulation of flows to support downstream navigation, it also functions as a hydroelectric facility, flood control enhancement, and recreational point of interest. Our first stop will be at the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center, which is strategically located on a bluff above the dam and provides spectacular views. This facility offers an astounding array of exhibits expanding on the river and area attractions. This tour will also visit the National Fish Hatchery located just below the dam. This facility is one of only a few such facilities focused on the reproduction and recovery of the endangered pallid sturgeon. The last stop will give folks a chance to discuss opportunities and challenges riverfront communities face in this region. Yankton, South Dakota, is nestled on the banks of the Missouri River. Historically the river may have been viewed as an opportunity to rid the city of unwanted material; however, today the river is viewed as a natural wonder that needs to be protected and enjoyed. Hear about community efforts to expand riverfront opportunities and enhancements.

Limit: 90
Cost: $30

6:00 pm - Dinner on your own