WINONA, Minn. – The Army Corps of Engineer has reopened Mosquito Island as a place for primitive camping and a boating beach across the Mississippi River main channel from Homer. The tiny non-descript island, which had been eroding away since 2007 high water, has been expanded by two acres with 50,000 cubic yards of dredged sand from Pool 6 behind the Trempealeau dam and 2,700 cubic yards of organic material. More than 3,000 ton of rock was used to create vanes and armor the head of the island to help protect against future erosion. State and federal agencies have planted 1,500 willow sticks along the shoreline to fight the effects of rising water. Next 300 trees will be planted.
