Blufflands Alliance

The Blufflands Alliance is a partnership of private organizations working to protect the blufflands of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. The Alliance serves to focus and facilitate land conservation programs, with an emphasis on volunteer stewardship and direct land protection, in the immediate bluffs surrounding the Mississippi River. Partner organizations work together to complete projects, provide support and streamline individual energy into a common effort.

Recognized as one of the great American treasures, the Mississippi River blufflands are one of the most scenic and culturally important regions in the United States. Not only did the river and surrounding bluffs focus Native Indian culture and life, it provided the conduit by which early European explorers made their first significant foray into Middle America. The rich natural resources of the river and surrounding bluffs made this region a target for settlement by Native Indians and European settlers.

It is these same natural and scenic resources the Blufflands Alliance partners are trying to protect forever. Funded by a generous grant from the McKnigh Foundation, the partners have identified dozens of priority conservation sites throughout the four states, in which they are aggressively preserving significant natural and cultural treasures of the blufflands. By focusing efforts on large contiguous forests, significant natural features, such as peregrine falcon aeries, scenic vistas, unique bluff plant and animal communities, and important historical and cultural sites, the Blufflands Alliance partners have been responsible for the permanent protection of more than 12,000 acres during the past decade.

Although land protection efforts to date have been significant, there is much work to be done. The Mississippi River blufflands area is experiencing significant pressure from an expanding human population. Limited developable land in the valleys below the bluffs has forced residential and commercial development up onto the bluffs. Land protection efforts, both regulatory and voluntary, are insufficient to keep pace with the ever growing threat of development. The Blufflands Alliance partners are racing against time to maximize the cooperation and value of the partnership to protect additional land in order to preserve the natural and scenic beauty of the Mississippi River blufflands.

Click here to visit the Blufflands Alliance website for more information.