Engaging Landowners for Stream Protection

The Fishers & Farmers Partnership (Partnership) for the Upper Mississippi River Basin is a self-directed group of interested, non-governmental agricultural and conservation organizations, tribal organizations and state and federal agencies working to achieve the Partnership’s mission “… to support locally-led projects that add value to farms while restoring aquatic habitat and native fish populations.”  The Partnership is a project organized and recognized under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) and brings science and technical expertise to locally-directed projects throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin.  The Partnership fosters collaborative conservation projects between farming landowners and natural resource managers that use innovative strategies for land use and waterway practices designed to benefit farms and fish, and to restore aquatic habitats.  Many of the early successes of the Partnership have been realized in the Meramec River Basin in Missouri, southwest of St. Louis.  Landowner committees govern and guide watershed efforts.  Local farmers and ranchers and agency staff work together to install best management practices to protect water quality, restore riparian forests and enhance aquatic habitats.  Additional efforts to expand the program throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin, most recently in Iowa and Minnesota, are ongoing and expanding.  Private landowners are the key to the success of the Partnership.  Conservation projects are succeeding beyond what has been experienced in the past, and landowner commentaries clearly express the value of efforts that bring them and agency personnel together as equal partners to reach a goal of healthy fish, healthy streams and healthy farms.