Driving DirectionsFrom Marshall, take Highway 65 west 8 miles, then Route N north 5 miles to area headquarters. HighlightsThis area is largely wetlands and cropland with 800 acres of forest. About This AreaGrand Pass Conservation Area is in Saline County. Six miles of the area fronts the Missouri River. The Conservation Department purchased 2,100 acres in 1980, 2,611 acres in 1984 and 385 acres in 1994 and leased 205 more acres in 1986 to form Grand Pass Conservation Area.The area consists of Missouri River bottomlands, including wetlands, adjacent river islands, agricultural units, and timber tracts.Area development includes levees and water control structures. Waterways and pumps help manage these Missouri River wetlands and restore and maintain habitat for migratory wetland species and associated resident wildlife. Wetland management consists of providing fall and spring flooded habitat for migratory birds and emergent marshes for resident and breeding wetland wildlife.This area has been designated by Audubon Missouri as an Important Bird Area (IBA). IBA's are sites that have been identified by Audubon as those that are the most crucial for bird populations, due to their abundance and/or diversity of birds present.Grand Pass Conservation Area is within the Wakenda Bottoms Conservation Opportunity Area, a broad reach of the Missouri River floodplain. Historically, the dynamic shifting of the Missouri River with its braided channels and fluctuating water levels created a mosaic of marshes and wet prairies here.The Missouri Department of Conservation, Ducks Unlimited, University of Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and interested private landowners are partnering to restore and conserve these diverse wetlands.