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Narrator: Dresser Island lies only 20 miles north of the heart
of downtown St. Louis on the Mississippi River.
In many ways, this restored wetland seems a world away
from the urban center not far from its banks.
Here visitors can explore the island year round,
but for some hardy adventurers
who are looking for a different experience,
the cold winter months are their season of choice.
Marvin: This is the best time of the year to come out here
because there’s so many things to see out here.
You just never know what’s gonna pop up in front of you
here at Dresser Island.
Narrator: On this late winter day a group of outdoor enthusiasts
accompanied by naturalist volunteers
have gathered to take a walking tour of the island.
The 7-mile loop trail that circles Dresser Island
will offer them the chance to see this renovated wetland environment
along with the animals and birds who call it their winter home.
Marvin: Muskrats are a two-and-a half pound rodent.
They build two different types of homes.
What we see out here is called a muskrat house.
The only place they can build houses like this
is where there’s a stable water system.
If the water fluctuates quite a bit,
they would actually get flooded out,
because their entrances are underwater,
but then they go up inside that house
and they're above water by maybe a foot or two.
Naturalist: Ok, what we have in the scopes out here right now
are American White Pelicans.
That whole white mass you see over there
is American White Pelicans, probably 70 or 80 of them.
The American White Pelican is a very large bird.
It’s about five foot long,
it's got a wingspan of eight to nine feet,
and weighs about 15 and a half pounds.
Naturalist: I will never forget the first time
I saw some gulls in Missouri.
I thought, “Seagulls?
Seagulls?
What are they doing in Missouri?’”
So then I decided to turn to the field guides
and I found out there are some gulls that never go to the ocean, ever.
Naturalist: This is a beaver highway from getting to the pond,
back and forth from the pond to the river
and you can see how it’s been used quite frequently.
Narrator: On the trail’s final third all eyes turned to the skies.
During this winter’s walk, our group discovered something
bigger than any single animal they encountered on this day:
an appreciation of our wetlands
and the importance of its restoration and preservation.
Marvin: If we do a little work on these islands
and wetlands along the river, we can restore them to almost
the condition they had before: a healthy wetland.