The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program is being implemented by
the Environmental Management Technical Center, an office of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in cooperation with the five Upper
Mississippi River Basin System states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota,
Missouri and Wisconsin), with guidance and overall Program
responsibility provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The
mission of the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program is to provide
decision makers with information to maintain the Upper Mississippi
River System as a viable large river ecosystem given its multiple
use character. The long term goals of the Program are to
understand the system, determine resource trends and impacts,
develop management alternatives, manage information, and develop
useful products. Information on a system as large as the Upper
Mississippi River System can be provided only through a properly
designed and implemented comprehensive data collection and
interpretation program. The Environmental Management Technical
Center is responsible for all data collection, synthesis,
analysis, and dissemination of information pertinent to the Long
Term Resource Monitoring Program. Tabular data for water quality,
vegetation, and fish populations are collected by six field
stations, transmitted to the Environmental Management Technical
Center, and stored in a data base management system. Spatial
data, including bathymetry, land use, land cover, and
transportation, are collected and stored in a geographic
information system. In addition, historical depth and flow
information is acquired from outside sources. This report
provides direction for the management of Long Term Resource
Monitoring Program data and a description of the automation tools
required to support that effort.
