An employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses a chain saw to cut down a leaner on pool 9 of the Mississippi River on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Managers of the Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge are cutting trees that are destined to be uprooted by the wind in hopes their stumps and root systems will keep islands from eroding. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

Cutting trees to save forests may seem paradoxical, but biologists are doing just that on islands in the Upper Mississippi River.

By cutting trees on the edges of islands, we hope to save the islands themselves and all the other trees growing on them, said Rich King, manager of the McGregor District of the Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge.

The trees targeted for cutting, King explained, are leaners that were eventually going to topple into the river anyway.

Were spending millions (through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Management Program) to build new islands, and it only makes sense to do what we can to protect the ones we already have, said Mike Griffin, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources biologist who introduced the concept to refuge personnel.

Mike has been talking about it for years. It is a practical and inexpensive way to protect a valuable resource, said Clyde Male, assistant manager of the refuges McGregor District, which covers Mississippi River pools 9, 10 and 11, stretching from Genoa, Wis., to Dubuque.

Griffin said wave action has been eroding refuge islands for decades. The standard response, armoring shorelines with big rocks, is extremely expensive and in many cases cost-prohibitive, he said.

The trees on the edges of islands, mostly silver maple and cottonwood, have shallow root systems limited by the high water table in the rivers backwaters.

With their disproportionately small root systems, they are top-heavy and especially vulnerable to strong winds when they are fully leafed out, said Griffin.

Its just a matter of time before the leaners are uprooted, he said.

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Iowa’s river islands need a little pruning