No,
we're not talking about the Nebraska Cornhusker Football Team.
This is one 'Number 1' title we can probably do without. American
Rivers, a national non-profit conservation organization who
lists the nation's most troubled rivers each year, has recently
listed the Missouri River as the most endangered river for 2001.
They claim the Missouri River suffers from federal control of
upstream dams that regulate water levels, sapping the river of
its natural splendor and threatening fish and wildlife.
The 'Number 1' listing comes as no real surprise,
considering the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers plans to issue a new river
management plan later this summer. American Rivers has
acknowledged the political timing of its listing. They support
what has become known as the split-navigation season for the
Missouri River, in which they claim we need to have a spring
rise then lower summer flows on the river to protect certain
endangered species; particularly the Least
Tern, Piping
Plover and the Pallid
Sturgeon.
| The
proposed change to the management of the river would
undoubtedly disrupt not only barge traffic during the peak
summer months but would also prevent recreational boating
from occurring on the Missouri during this time period. |
Local
marinas would not have enough water to support what has
become a big summer pastime in the Omaha, Council Bluffs and
surrounding areas. Chris Brescia, president of Marc
2000, (Midwest Area River Coalition 2000) which represents
shippers on the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, claims
"If that happens, the industry will leave this river".
Historian Stephen
A. Ambrose, who wrote the #1 best seller "Undaunted
Courage" about Lewis and Clark's Missouri River
explorations, also backs the controversial changes to the master
plan of managing the river. According to Ambrose, 'with the
possible exception of St. Charles, he's seen almost nothing in
the way of riverfront renewal projects in Missouri or elsewhere
along the lower stretch of the Missouri River to match the
aggressive efforts of New Orleans, Chicago and European
cities'.
Should someone introduce Mr. Ambrose to the aggressive
efforts being made on the Omaha River Front development plan?
At any rate, the debate will go on this year. The corps will
hold public hearings up and down the Missouri for six months
after it releases its new plan for the river's flow this summer.
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