HARPERS FERRY, Iowa – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has unveiled plans for a 2,000-foot rock berm to protect Native American burial mounds in the Sny Magill-Effigy national monument. A public hearing on the proposed $12 million berm will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the National Park Service visitor center at 151 Highway 76 in Harpers Ferry. The mounds are along Johnsons Slough upriver from the Corps-operated Guttenberg dam on the Mississippi River. The mounds are under threat due to shoreline erosion, said the Corps, which controls navigation and water levels on the Mississippi. The mounds are sacred to 19 culturally associated tribal nations. If approved, the boat launch at Sny Magill would be temporally closed in 2026 for construction.
