Shoreline stabilization project helps 'protect tribal lands'

Project undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers and pushed by Sen. Mike Rounds celebrated Friday

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Clyde J.R. Estes speaks to event attendees while Senator Mike Rounds stands by. (Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

LOWER BRULE – Even before Clyde Estes got into tribal politics in 2016, one of the most pressing issues on his reservation was the erosion of the Missouri River shore closest to the tribe’s main population center.

Many of the tribal elders still remember moving the town out of the way of the rerouted Missouri River prior to the building of the Big Bend Dam in 1964.

“The water was actively eating the land away, day by day and year by year,” Estes, chair of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe said. “It eventually swallowed up our recreation area, and the lake was advancing toward town by eight feet every year.”

Thanks to a collaborative effort among the tribal, state and federal governments, just over $9 million dollars has been devoted to further preventing erosion. One mile of eroding shoreline was strengthened, ultimately helping to preserve about 53 acres of wetland habitat area.

Newly built expanded shorelines along the Missouri River. (Austin Goss/The Dakota Scout)

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