Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Clark was considerably different from today's river. The historic Missouri was a broad, slow-moving, shallow river with braided channels. These past river conditions created a haven for wildlife, which included vast floodplain forests of giant trees, marshes, and even wet prairies. Today's river is channelized. It is deeper and faster, and controlled by levees, dikes, and other containment structures. These controls make the river more navigable and the surrounding floodplain ideal for agriculture. The Big Muddy Refuge is allowing the Missouri River to be a river again, to enter its floodplain. This occurs during minor flood events. Management has created
Muddy River Opera Company "Noye's Fludde", "The Toy Shop" as well as works by Seymour Barab: "Chanticleer" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Muddy River Opera Company Located in Quincy, Illinois, the Muddy River Opera Company was founded by Mary Anne Scott and Mary Jane McCloskey in 1989 as a non-profit arts organization. The company was incorporated in 1990. Scott and McCloskey had two goals in mind: to make professional operatic performances and educational opportunities available to the tri-state area. In keeping with the mission of its founders, the company consistently produces two to four operas a year. For several years, most MROC productions of