 n Monday December 16th a 60 day Notice of Intent to Sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers was forwarded to Secretary of Interior, the Secretary of the Army, state fish and game agencies in North Dakota,
South Dakota and Montana on behalf of twelve associations and companies representing thousands of farmers, navigators,
municipalities, utilities, recreation interests and industry. The Notice represents an Intent to Sue under citizen suit
provisions of the Endangered Species Act and under the Administrative Procedure Act. Federal law requires 60 days' notice before a suit against the federal government.
The impending lawsuit, initiated by The Coalition to Protect the Missouri
River, will take issue with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service's actions to protect two endangered shorebirds, the piped plover and the least tern, both of which are
recognized in the Endangered Species Act.
The coalition believes that the "Uncertainty regarding the future of all Congressionally-authorized uses of the Missouri
River has forced Missouri River stakeholders to rally against the unproven science mandated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service and implemented by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The coalition will argue that The Corps' implementation of USFWS
prescriptive mandates would disregard navigation, flood control, and other established uses of the Missouri River in favor of
"dubious methods intended to protect some species."
The coalition claims that last year, navigation was shut down and economic losses were suffered when the corps said in July
2002 it could not move the birds to accommodate the release of additional water from two upper main-stem dams dams. Barge
traffic along the Missouri dropped in anticipation of those lower water levels. Between the first week of July and the middle of August, the lower water levels yielded an estimated $7 million in losses, from farmers unable to ship grain to hotel
barges canceling excursions.
Coalition chairman, Chris Brescia stated, "This is government at its worst, pulling the strings based on unproven science
that may help species recovery when we know that it will kill economic activity and increase flooding," stated Chris
Brescia, chairman of the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River. "The National Academy of Sciences stated that no empirical evidence exists to support the Service's theories on species recovery. On top of that, we do know, however, that the environmental
impacts of taking traffic off the river and shifting it onto other modes will be detrimental to all species - human and
animal alike."
The Coalition to Protect the Missouri River has been joined by MO-Ark, The Missouri - Arkansas River Basins Association in the
lawsuit. The Association promotes flood control, navigation, irrigation, recreation, fish and wildlife, environment, conservation and beneficial use of land and water resources within the Missouri Basin and the portion of the Arkansas Basin
which runs through Kansas and Missouri.
The notice is the second to be filed by the MO-Ark Association in the last nine months. The latest notice updates and supplements an earlier notice filed by the
MO-Ark Association on May 23, 2002, and a notice filed by the Coalition to Protect
the Missouri River dated August 20, 2001.
| Coalition to
Protect the Missouri River Membership List: |
AGRIServices OF BRUNSWICK LLC
Ag Processing Inc.
(AGP) Ameren
American Waterways Operators
Associated Industries of MO (AIM)
Blaske Marine
Brunswick River Terminal, Inc
Cargill Marine and Terminal, Inc.
David Sieck
DeBruce Grain
Farmland Industries, Inc.
Henderson Partnership
Illinois Corn Growers Association
Interstate Marine Terminals, Inc. (IMT)
Iowa Corn Growers Association
Iowa Farm Bureau
John Lincoln
Kansas Farm Bureau
Luman Offutt Farms, Inc.
MFA Incorporated |
Midwest Area River Coalition (MARC 2000)
Midwest Terminal Warehouse Co., Inc.
Missouri Chamber of Commerce
Missouri Corn Growers Association
Missouri Dairy Association
Missouri Farm Bureau
MO-ARK MO
Levee & Drainage Dist. Assoc
Missouri Soybean Association
Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council
National Corn Growers Association
Orrick Farm Service, Inc.
Phillips Petroleum Company
Phoenix Towing
Ray Clay Farms, Inc.
RCGA(St.Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Assc)
UMIMRA Waters
Farms, Inc.
Wayne Stouder
We Pe Co, Inc. |
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Tom Waters, President of the MO-Ark Association declared, "The Missouri-Arkansas River Basins Association's involvement with
the recent Notice of Intent to Sue under the Endangered Species Act represents a continuation of preparations for a legal
battle MO-Ark has been anticipating for many years. The Association is encouraged by the recent efforts to build a powerful
coalition of participants who are now willing to join in an effort to bring common sense and reliability to the operation of
Missouri River. We are committed to the effort and will stand side by side with our allies in the important legal battle we
plan to face in the near future." The long standing Missouri-Arkansas River Basins Association (MO-Ark) was founded in 1952
and recently celebrated its 50th year Anniversary.
A recent December 16, 2002 press release by the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River disclosed "Actions mandated by the
USFWS and implemented by the Corps during summer 2002 created flows below minimum navigation service levels, inflicting
economic losses on navigators, grain terminals, excursions lines and industry estimated in the millions of dollars. These
"bird operations" occurred to protect 41 interior least tern and piping plover, birds listed as endangered or threatened
under the Endangered Species Act, though their population numbers have increased substantially and fledge targets have
continually been met under current Missouri River management practices. For the first time in history, the mandates of the
USFWS Biological Opinion disregarded authorized project purposes in lieu of conservation and unsupported science."
In addition, RiverBarge Excursions Lines,
Inc., the only hotel barge company in the U.S., (was) forced to cancel their '02
Missouri River excursion at a loss of $1 million due to the "bird operations", cancelled their 2003 Missouri River excursion schedule on December 13 due to "conflicts between the Corps and the USFWS...that could result in water levels that
are not sufficient to support navigation on the Missouri River." A RiverBarge Excursions Line's press statement said, "The nature of
(our) business is such that there needs to be a long-term
reliability and reasonable certainty to navigation on the Missouri River."
"Flow unreliability continues to have adverse impacts on the Missouri River and would have critically affected Mississippi
River commerce in 2000-2002 if the USFWS mandates had been implemented," stated Chris Brescia. "It's imperative that the
President recognize that the unproven science of the BO (Biological Opinion) dictates Missouri River management that's not in
the best interest of this nation or those he has committed to support." 
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