January 2007

COOPER'S LANDING

NEWSLETTER
Volume 4, Issue 1
January, 2007



Low water levels bring Duck Hunters
to Cooper's Landing

With the river running as low as 2 feet on the Boonville gauge this winter it has become more difficult for duck hunters to find access to the Missouri River. The local public ramps have become difficult or impossible to use so several duck hunters are willing to pay the $5 fee to use our private ramp. We have been extremely impressed by the fortitude of our local duck hunters. They do not complain about the cold, rain, sleet, wind and other inclement conditions. In fact some of the best hunting is when the conditions turn bad and drive the birds from the grasslands of Eagle Bluffs and the Plow Boy Bend Conservation areas to the sandbars on the river. We plan to make further improvements to our boat ramp to make sure that duck hunters and other boaters have access to the Missouri River year round.

This photo was taken with the river at 3.2 feet on the Boonville gauge.

Katy Trail News

Future of the Katy Trail Threatened

As noted in our last edition of the Newsletter the future of the Katy Trail is threatened. Court battles over the future of the Boonville Bridge have recently ruled in favor of the Union Pacific Railroad's right to tear the bridge down. The issue began as a question of whether the Katy Trail might make use of the historic old railroad bridge in Boonville. But now whether the Katy Trail uses the bridge or not is no longer the key issue. Governor Blunt, the DNR and the latest court ruling will let the railroad remove the bridge. Once the railroad demolishes the bridge, the old railroad right-of-way will no longer be intact. This may nullify the legal basis for the entire Katy Trail. If the National Rails to Trails act and the principle of railroad banking for preserving the corridor for future railroad use do not apply to the bridge then they probably do not apply to the other sections of the trail. Most of the rest of the Katy Trail was taken from private ownership for public use under the National Rails to Trails Act. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon questioned why the state would willingly support a plan to relinquish, without just compensation, a valuable state asset. The debate continues.You can learn more about this issue at http://www.bikekatytrail.com/boonvillebridge.asp

Extending Katy Trail to Kansas City

As debate continues between the DNR and the Missouri State Attorney Generals office over the future of the Katy Trail they are also at odds over how to reach a settlement with Ameren over the damages stemming from the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse. A billion gallons of water flooded Johnson's Shut-ins State Park, destroyed a ranger station, a campground, injured a family of 5 and caused heavy silt in the Black River. The Taum Sauk collapse has been called the worst man-made disaster in Missouri history. The Missouri Attorney Generals office claims the Taum Sauk managers knew broken monitors could cause a collapse before it happened but were told by Ameren officials to delay repairs because shutting down the plant "didn't justify economically." Ameren has already agreed to pay $15 million in fines to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The largest fine in FERC history. The DNR has proposed a settlement to Ameren of $125 million in damages and fines. DNR is asking Ameren to grant a 50 year lease of Church Mounain where Ameren has considered building another hydroelectric plant. DNR also wants to build a permanent trail along a 47 mile stretch of the old Rock Island Railroad right of way. A day after DNR announced the settlement proposal, Jay Nixon, Missouri State Attorney General, filed a civil suit against Ameren over the reservoir collapse saying he, not DNR, has legal authority in the case. Now that the Rock Island Line is on the table as part of a settlement it is important for people who want to preserve and extend the Katy Trail to let their feelings be known. The Missouri Bike Federation has been collecting signatures on a petition at Cooper's Landing and other locations for people to support "creating a seamless trail connection from St. Louis to Kansas City..." So far we have collected about 300 signatures on the petition. You can find out more about these issues at the Missouri Bike Federation: http://mobikefed.org/ .

New Katy Trail Petition at Cooper's Landing

Imagine a 4 day trip on the Katy Trail from Sedalia to St. Charles. You have used your Katy Trail map to plan your trip to take advantage of campgrounds and other services. The second day into the trip you are tired and have planned to stay at the campground shown on the Katy Trail maps at Easley. You ride past Cooper's Landing and go over a mile to Easley to find there is no campground. There are no services at all. You have to turn around to back track to Cooper's Landing or ride another 5 miles to the next available services at Wilton. This is not an unusual scenario. The DNR says they cannot put Cooper's Landing on their maps since it is the name of a business. So they chose the closest community, Easley. The problem is Easley is over a mile away. Cooper's Landing is located at the site of a historic river town of Nashville. When Nashville was destroyed by a flood in 1844 the survivors founded the town of Providence which continued to serve as Columbia's river port. But Providence Landing as it is now known is 1.5 miles West of Cooper's Landing. Cooper's Landing is a unique location providing many services to trail users plus it also serves as the only marina in the state on the Missouri River. Cooper's Landing is happy to serve as an un-official trail head providing parking, water, dining, restrooms, entertainment, camping and other services at no cost to the DNR. Without Cooper's Landing it would be 16 miles between official Katy Trail-Trail heads at McBaine and Hartsburg with parking, restrooms and water. We are asking the DNR to accurately locate Cooper's Landing and the services provided here on the Katy Trail maps. You can sign a petition supporting this request at Cooper's Landing.

If you are planning a ride on the Katy Trail you will want to have a copy of the Katy Trail Guidebook, by Brett Dufur. You can order the book at
: http://www.pebblepublishing.com
/complete_katy_trail_guidebook.htm


New Restaurant at McBaine

Lucille Coleman has opened a great restaurant in McBaine. Lucy's is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With a friendly country atmosphere Lucy's is known for its home style hamburgers. A great Prime Rib Dinner is available on Thursday evenings. Lucy's is only a short distance from the Katy Trail at McBaine.
call: 573-445-5908

MRCN

The Missouri River Communities Network

Steve Johnson is serving as Project Director of the Missouri Stream Team AmeriCorps Project. 12 AmeriCorps members are working with local non-profit water quality organizations in: St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Kimberling City, West Plains, and Columbia to provide staff assistance to local Stream Teams.

Stream Team Education Initiative
This MRCN sponsored project utilizes the AmeriCorps members as support staff to help 40 junior high and high school science teachers in Misssouri to integrate the Missouri Stream Team Program into their local science curriculum. 40 schools participated in the training and are now creating Stream Teams for water quality monitoring, organizing litter pick ups and making educational presentations within their schools and communities.

Misssouri River Heritage Tourism VISTA Project
Steve Johnson will begin interviewing and hiring 11 VISTA members this month to work on the Missouri River Heritage Tourism Project. Vista members will work with communities as MRCN continues to build the network of participating cities, counties and organizations.. This project is a great opportunity for communities that want to benefit from increased Heritage Tourism in the Central Missouri River Region.

If you are interested in becoming a “Heritage Tourism VISTA Member” or one of the Stream Team AmeriCorps Members contact Steve Johnson at: moriver@centurytel.net or call 573-256-2602.

MRCN will be updating its website, www.moriver.org. Once the website is updated there will be improved access to current information about ongoing projects and meetings. Until then you can contact:
MRCN office at: 573-256-2602 or
email: moriver@centurytel.net

Note: We usually put MRCN meetings and events on the Cooper's Landing Events calendar.

Our Favorite Local Links

Visitors to the Columbia area will want to check out the following websites for information about what is going on in Columbia.

COMOMUSIC.COM - Columbia, Missouri's guide to local, live music - shows - reviews - community

.iheartcolumbia.com- whats happening in Columbia

columbiagalleries.com - guide to Columbia Art Galleries

talkcolumbia.com - discussion board

columbiatribune.com -daily newspaper-afternoon

columbiamissourian.com - daily newspaper-morning

bikekatytrail.com - maps and news about the Katy Trail

gocolumbiamo.com - Columbia Government webpage

visitcolumbiamo.com - Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau

greetings-from-earth.com - photographic art

KOPN Radio - community supported radio

CAT3-TV - community access TV

Arts Express---------A Calendar of Cultural Events

Tranquility Internet Services----ISP, Webhosting & Design

 

Want to find out about Cooper's upcoming events?
Click here for a full calendar
of upcoming events!

 

Please contribute any newsworthy current events about the Missouri River or Katy Trail and we will post them on this page. And we would love to add you to our e-mailing list!

 

Send your email to: cooperslanding@gmail.com

ARCHIVES

 

 


Current News

Click Here for the Newsletter of the Laurie Flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Stream Team Water Quality Monitoring Class. 12 classes are being offered throughout the state. www.mostreamteam.org/introwqm.asp. Just below the calender is a link for on-line registration. Or you can print out the form and send it to Missouri Stream Teams. Classes start Tuesday, February 27.

Musicians can sign up now to video record their original music at Cooper's Landing. Go to to the MoRivCC Calendar for more information. Be sure to look at the Forum page for information about copyright and licensing issues.

MRCN (Missouri River Communities Network) has scheduled Row, Rock and Roll for the River for Saturday, June 16. Canoists departing from Franklin Island and Bikers departing from Rocheport will meet at Cooper's Landing for an afternoon and evening of children's learning activities, music, a raffle and other opportunities to support MRCN Missouri River related projects.

May 4-12: Missouri River Relief will be hosting River Camp at Pelican Island near Florissant MO, a series of clean-ups, learning days and special river events, River Camp will conclude with a big clean-up centered in St. Charles on May 12.

We now offer WiFi, High Speed Wireless Internet Service at Cooper's Landing

Keep checking back for updated Current News.


Mild December Weather

Jon Offerman of Lupus has been taking advantage of the mild winter weather to visit his river neighbors. Most winters all the local house boats are trailered to avoid damage from ice flowing in the river.

MoRivCC Connects to the Community

The Missouri River Cultural Conservancy will be conducting meetings to finalize Vision Planning for the organization. MoRivCC will be inviting members of other organizations to participate in Planning Sessions which will identify how MoRivCC with its video recording capabilities can best interact with the community.
The Mission of the Missouri River Cultural Conservancy is to document, record, archive and foster awareness of the unique history and culture of the Central Missouri River Region.
MoRivCC has been recording music, dance, and art festivals. Shows have been produced and broadcast on local community access TV, CAT3. What else should be considered important to documenting the culture of our area? What educational and historical opportunities should be considered? What can MoRivCC do for your organization and community? This is your opportunity to share your ideas and have them incorporated into the long range plan for MoRivCC. MoRivCC recently put its new website on the internet. Keep checking www.morivcc.org for more information about upcoming meetings, recording sessions, photos of recently recorded events and links to MoRivCC videos. www.morivcc.org

MoRivCC Videos

MoRivCC has been providing programming for CAT3 TV since the summer of 2005. Videographer/Producer Scott Wilson continues to record and produce shows. He has completed 8 of 9 shows from last winter's Winter Sessions at Cooper's Landing. He has continued to record events at Cooper's as well as Lupus and Columbia. Artists recorded include: Bob Dyer, Lee Ruth, Pete Szkolka, Sutu Forte, John D'Agostino, Dave Bandy, Hilary Scott, Al Jolly, Noah Earle, Rocket Kirchner, Chump Change and many more. Scott's newest program, The Music Show, has been recorded with improved audio and should be available for viewing on CAT3 for some time. Scott's next projects include:

1. Prepare a 10 minute video to present to local/regional media.
2. Archive David Dean White's "Winter Sessions at Cooper's" performance at Western Manuscript Society.
3. Feb 10 & 14, Recording Violet Vonder Haar & Henry Clay at The Rocheport General Store.
4. Scott will also be helping to produce this years Winter Sessions at Cooper's. Recording sessions will begin Saturday, January 20. The sessions will be detailed on the Cooper's Landing Events Calendar and on the MoRivCC website: www.morivcc.org

Scott Wilson has been donating his time to the success of MoRivCC. He has been camera man, editor and producer of almost all MoRivCC video productions. He serves on the board of directors of MoRivCC and CAT3 TV. MoRivCC and the community owe a debt of gratitude to Scott Wilson for his contributions.

Fullfilling Jerome's Vision

I was blessed to spend a considerable amount of time with Jerome Wheeler the last two years of his life. Jerome was about Love. Love for music, his friends, his family and his community. In November 2004 we were brainstorming about what we could do for the local music community and came up with the idea of video recording the incredible music in this area and showing it on TV. What an incredible concept! By using video recordings we can make the community aware of its own culture and we can make the rest of the world aware of what makes our community unique..As we brainstormed with other people we quickly realized this project could be much bigger than we had first imagined. Musicians will benefit from the TV exposure to help their musical careers. And how can we document music as a cultural event and leave out other performing, literary, and fine arts? By becoming good at video production we can become teachers to the local community empowering the community to use the technology. And what other projects could MoRivCC make possible. Could MoRivCC videos benefit other local organizations? Local Businesses? Could Columbia become a nationally known hub of video recording technology with ties to universities, trade unions, and associated organizations? How about things we have not thought of yet?

At the first meeting called to share this idea with the community in December of 2004, Jerome Said:
"There are several possible ways we can go about this, but neither Mike nor myself know for sure if they are viable or realistic. Some May involve private funding, some may involve grants for public monies, some may involve a combination of both. We need to assemble people with the knowledge of what we can do and what we can't do and how to go about what we can and how to get around what we can't.
Let's find some way to do this."

Jerome died two months after writing these words. But now two years later, it is amazing to see his ideas being accomplished. Now it is time to take this organization to the next level by identifying and forming partnerships with other organizations that can benefit from and contribute to MoRivCC. Now is the time for MoRivCC to share its internal vision with the larger community. By listening to the ideas of people and organizations who can look at MoRivCC from the outside, MoRivCC will form successful partnerships. MoRivCC and the community will develop successful strategies to accomplish Jerome's vision.

"The clock is running out on many of our local treasures and we are afraid that if we don't act quickly several songwriters will be beyond our reach."
Jerome Wheeler 12-13-04

If you have ideas to contribute or want to attend planning meetings contact: webmaster@morivcc.org
You can stay informed about MoRivCC issues and events at www.morivcc.org.

Missouri River Relief

2006 was a busy year for Missouri River Relief. With the sweat equity of 1035 volunteers, 117.5 tons of trash from 70 miles of the Missouri River were removed. 1794 students and teachers experienced and learned about the banks of the Big Muddy.
1st year cleanups were held in Bonnots Mill MO, Atchison KS, Sugar Creek MO, and Omaha NE.
The 22 day Mega Scout trash mapping expedition surveyed 754 river miles.
Away Teams of MRR crew helped out at clean ups on the James, Blue and Mississippi rivers.
MRR and the River Ladies Auxiliary put on their first Canoe & Kayak Clean-up from Katfish Katy's in Huntsdale to Coopers' Landing. 2.1 tons of trash were pulled out of Providence Bend with just 13 canoes.

Looking ahead to 2007
Missouri River Relief Schedule:
March 11: Spring road clean-ups - meet at Cooper's Landing at 9 for breakfast followed by a clean-up.
April 15: Glasgow, MO, river clean-up
May 4-12: River Camp at Pelican Island near Florissant MO, May, a series of clean-ups, learning days and special river events, we'll cap it off with a big clean-up centered in St. Charles on May 12.
May 19: National River Clean-up Day, Yankton, S.D.
June 23: Mouth of the Osage Clean-up; Bonnots Mill, MO
Sept. 22: Omaha, NE, Clean-up
Oct. 5-6: Kaw Point Learning Festival and Clean-up; Kansas City, KS

Congratulations to Vicki Richmond who was named as the Missouri Conservation Federation "Water Conservationist of the Year" for 2006! From her work on the Blue River, to her work on the Missouri River Vicki deserves recognition for her contributions.

Jeff Barrow's book about Chad Pregracke is totally complete (it's called "From the Bottom Up - One Man's Crusade to Clean Up America's Rivers). The hardcover is due out on April 10, although they are somewhat ahead of schedule. You can preorder the book on Amazon.com... here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Bottom-Up-Crusade-Americas-Rivers/dp/1426201001/sr=8-1/qid=1171642514/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9833983-4674445?ie=UTF8&s=books

A documentary that was filmed on the MegaScout will be running on MDC's "Missouri Outdoors" show on April 28-29. In Columbia, see it on Sat. at 5:00 on channel 8, or Sunday at 6:00 on Channel 6. In KC, see it on Sat. at 6:00 on channel 2 or Sunday at 5:00 on channel 19 (PBS).

Check our website www.riverrelief.org for updates. We're in the process of renovating our site, and will work on getting our schedules back online.Until then you can check the Cooper's Landing Events Calendar for dates of upcoming events.Come and join us! We'll see you on the river!

Missouri River Relief

 

Make a Difference,

Contribute to your community by supporting the organizations on this page. There are lots of ways to contibute. You can write a check, help plan the events or best of all participate in events which benefit your community. You will meet some wonderful people and feel good that you can make a difference.