Officials with the U-S Army Corps of Engineers will hold an open house Tuesday at the Effigy Mounds National Monument Visitor Center in Harpers Ferry to discuss plans to protect the area from flooding and erosion. The prehistoric burial mounds that comprise Iowa’s only national monument have stood for centuries, but the Corps’ Jill Bathke says they’re now under immediate threat.
The protected area of northeast Iowa is home to some 200 earthen mounds that are believed to have been built during the first millennium. Many mounds are shaped like animals, including bears and birds. About 100 mounds are in a low-lying area known as the Sny-Magill unit, and she says that’s the section being placed at risk by the river.
The monument is managed by the National Park Service, and the area east of the Sny Magill unit is part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which is managed by the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. Bathke says coordination and consultation with tribal nations about the proposed protection plan is ongoing. Another element in the mix, she says an endangered species of mussel has been found in the area.
If the project is approved, the boat launch at Sny-Magill would be temporally closed in spring and summer of 2026 for construction.
Tuesday’s open house runs from 5:30 to 7 P-M.
