Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge

The land which was originally wetlands used by migratory foul had earlier been used as a private hunting preserve.[http://www.fws.gov/midwest/planning/squawcreek/FinalCCP/chapter_3.pdf Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan]

In 1906 the Squaw Creek Drainage District No. 1 after much litigation using the contactors Rogers & Rogers completed ditches to drain nearly {{convert|20,000| acres}} of land into the Missouri River in a massive project in which more than 500,000 cubic yards of earth were moved (335,031 on Squaw Creek and 192,715 on Davis Creek) in area stretching from East Rulo to Mound City at a point where the Missouri River bottoms were said to be the widest of its entire length. The Holt County Sentinel celebrated the completion with the headline "Rolls on to the Sea...Twenty Thousand Acres of Land Reclaimed and Will Here After Blossom as the Rose". The article said that people from Kansas City would have to find some place to hunt.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5399147/squaw_creek_drainage_district_no_1/|title=Squaw Creek Drainage District No. 1 August 3, 1906 - Newspapers.com|newspaper=The Holt County Sentinel |date=August 3, 1906 |page=1 }}

The draining of the land did little to prevent the flat area on the Missouri River bottoms from flooding from the streams that emptied into the area. In 1908 two years after its completion the land was flooded. In 1915 in a flood that was said to be worse than the Great Flood of 1881 which had been an incentive for draining the land indundated much of land.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5399301/great_flood_of_1915_holt_county/|title=Great Flood of 1915 Holt County Sentinel July 23, 1915 - Newspapers.com|newspaper=The Holt County Sentinel |date=July 23, 1915 |page=1 }}

On August 23, 1935 Executive Order 7156 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a reversal of the project to create a "refuge feeding and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife." It was the first national wildlife refuge in Missouri. Its original planned name was the "Squaw Creek Migratory Water Fowl Refuge." The original plan called for it to be 8,135 acres but the government was unable to acquire all the land and it was reduced to 7,415 acres. The plan allowed for management of the runoff from the local creeks with various pools.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5398849/squaw_creek_september_18_1937/|title=Squaw Creek September 18, 1937 - Newspapers.com|newspaper=Macon Chronicle-Herald |date=September 18, 1937 |page=2 }} The Civilian Conservation Corps was tasked with restoring the wetland state.

Among the construction at the refuge were 15 impoundments totaling {{convert|3400|acre|km2|0}}, construction of {{convert|14|mi|km|0}} of dikes and levees and {{convert|11|mi|km|0}} of ditches. The basic ditch drainage system still remains with Squaw Creek and Davis Creek combined with water from a channeled Tarkio Creek draining almost due south from the refuge into the Missouri.

The headquarters area includes a 100-seat auditorium and {{convert|875|sqft|m2|0}} of exhibit space (the University of Missouri also has Loess Hills exhibits as does the St. Joseph Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, which has a Loess Hills diorama). A {{convert|0.25|mi|km|2|adj=on}} trail built by the Civilian Conservation Corps climbs {{convert|200|ft|m|-1}} vertically to a refuge overlook from which you can see Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

A one-way {{convert|10|mi|km|0|adj=on}} gravel road (the "Wild Goose Tour Loup") travels around the edge of the refuge. The refuge reports that 134,245 visited in 2001 with 41,683 at the headquarters.

The refuge derived its original name from Squaw Creek, a stream originating about {{convert|30|mi|km|0}} north at the Bilby Ranch Lake Conservation Area in Nodaway County, Missouri that is dammed to form the reservoirs. The creek is the larger of the two main creeks that feed the refuge and parallels the road on the west. Davis Creek, the next biggest creek, parallels the east side road. They merge with the Little Tarkio Creek just south of the refuge in a man made ditch leading five miles (8 km) to the Missouri River.

In December 2016 Daniel M. Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said he was going to rename the refuge to Eagle Flats by the second week of January 2017 before the Barack Obama administration left office. Authorities noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service has the authority to change names without public input. Another name that was floated after the announcement was Loess Mounds.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fws.gov/policy/040fw2.html|title=Naming and Renaming Units and Unit Sites|date=January 11, 2017|website=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Policy|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=January 11, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newspressnow.com/news/local_news/squaw-creek-proposal-creates-a-storm/article_c1319659-f372-5a73-8317-44cb77f5f5ab.html|title=Squaw Creek proposal creates a storm|first=Nathan|last=Ellgren |work=News-Press Now|date=December 28, 2016 }}

On January 11, 2017 the refuge was officially renamed Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fws.gov/midwest/news/863.html|title=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes refuge name change|date=January 11, 2017|access-date=January 11, 2017|via=USFWS}} The announcement stated that the creek is still an important part of the refuge and history, but that the word "squaw" is no longer an acceptable name in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

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• [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/squaw_creek/ Official website]

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{{Protected areas of Missouri}}

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Category:National Wildlife Refuges in Missouri

Category:Protected areas of Holt County, Missouri

Category:Civilian Conservation Corps in Missouri

Category:Wetlands of Missouri

Category:Landforms of Holt County, Missouri