Cooper's Editorial
By Mike Cooper
For all of you who love the Missouri River and the river
valley culture, I want to encourage you to become involved in the once
in a life time opportunity to celebrate the Voyage of Discovery in 2004.
Try to imagine what the river was like and how a group
of explorers would have experienced the wild frontier with all the obstacles
to overcome. Relive the history and culture of the communities along the
route that opened up the settling of the American West. Envision steamboats
and Riverports serving the surrounding communities for transportation
and goods. How many historic sites have been abandoned and forgotten since
1804?
If you are not interested in history there are other
ways to become involved in the festivities. You can join one of the many
organizations cooperating to make this event one we will all remember
— Missouri River Communities Network coordinating educational
and community events — River Relief cleaning the river and
educating everyone about the environment — The Coast Guard Auxiliary
educating the public about water and boating safety. Entrepreneurs have
a unique opportunity to establish businesses to provide services to all
the people who will be discovering our beautiful Missouri River valley.
Become involved in your local Community Festivals. Volunteer
to help keep the Katy Trail clean and safe. However you do it, become
involved and find a way to contribute to this unique event. In
the next newsletter we will bring you information about continuing improvement
of services along the Missouri River. There isn't much time left. We all
need to get busy.
Responses Welcome: Mike Cooper's
Editorial
Lewis &
Clark Festivals Have Already Begun!
A
three-year bash celebrating the 200th anniversary of the explorers' expedition
across America was kicked off January 17, 2003, at Monticello. Formal
ceremonies, music and speakers marked the day President Thomas Jefferson
set the expedition into motion by sending a confidential message to Congress
requesting funding.
Following in the footsteps of the two explorers, the
bicentennial celebration rolls forward to 14 other signature locations
along Lewis and Clark's route from Kentucky to Oregon. Events are timed
to coincide with the anniversaries of famous moments during the three-year
expedition, in which Meriweather Lewis and William Clark explored the
uncharted West in an attempt to find and map a transcontinental water
route to the Pacific.
Among future events planned:
- Louisville, KY
—October 14-26,2003: The "Falls of the Ohio" festival
begins with a re-enactment of Lewis' arrival in Louisville and meeting
with Clark for the first time on October 14, followed by educational
programs, symposium, historical exhibits, and performances.
- St. Charles, MO —
May 14-23, 2004: The arrival of a replica of the keelboat Lewis
and Clark used to venture up the Missouri River, called "The Expedition
Faces West". Highlights include a re-eneactment of the expedition's
encampment, with reconstructed buildings and interpreters in authentic
dress representing the village of St. Charles and its 405 inhabitants
in 1804.
- Great Falls, MT —
June 1- July 4, 2005: The 34-day "Explore the Big Sky"
festival focuses on the expedition's discovery and navigation of the
Great Falls of the Missouri River. Re-enactments, symposiums, museum
exhibits, tours, concerts, and more are planned.
- St. Louis, MO —
September 23, 2006: The final event of the celebration where the
two ended their adventure after returning from the Pacific.
WANTED: WRITERS!
Concerned
about the welfare of our beloved Missouri River? Always wanted to share
your stories and experiences? We see all of you sitting around the campfire
spinning your tales. How about becoming one of our contributing writers?
Aside from outdoor adventures, there are many touching
human interest stories. People who have beaten all the odds to be where
they are. Those who struggle to survive; those who give freely their love
and support. Such inspirational truths are meant to be shared!
We're glad
you're thinking of contributing, and would love to add you to our E-mailing
list! If interested, or would like to be included on the mailing list
for Newsletter announcements, E-mail Mike Cooper at: Cooper's
Landing
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It's Not Wise
to Fool with Mother Nature:
Missouri
River is at the
Top of the Danger List!
By Margot
Gendreau
The Missouri River has been named the nation's most
endangered river in America for the second year in a row. America
Rivers, a national conservation group, announced in April of last
year that the 'Big Muddy' ecosystem is critically threatened by the manipulation
of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
"As the longest river in the country, the Missouri
River has huge, historic, cultural and economic significance," said
Chad Smith, director of the Nebraska field office of American Rivers.
He explained that a lack of attention for wildlife and recreation, and
the dramatic alteration of the form and function of the river by the US
Corps of Engineers is largely responsible.
Paul Johnston, Chief of Public Affairs for the US
Army Corps of Engineers' Northwestern Division explained that the
current form and function of the river is what the people of the basin
wanted. Their engineering has resulted in some of the richest farmland
in the country, an $80 million recreation industry and thousands of acres
of wildlife habitat mitigation.
A spokesman for the national Sierra Club's Clean
Water Campaign, Ken Midkiff, favors the opinion of the American Rivers,
and thinks the Missouri River should be returned to a more natural state.
According to Midkiff, "With an abundance of wing dykes, levees and
bank stabilization boulders creating a narrow, channeled ditch, the river
bears no resemblance to what it looked like a hundred years ago."
American Rivers pointed to the anticipated Corps
of Engineer's decision on the revision of the Missouri River Master
Manual, which guides the management of the river, as an opportunity to
improve the health of the river ecosystem.
Stay tuned to more about the growing saga of how everyone
wants to save the Missouri River, but each have different approaches and
objectives as their guides.
To volunteer for the annual Missouri River Clean
Up, contact Jim Karpowicz
,Director, River Relief
Get Your Bicentennial Navigation
Map
U. S.
Corps of Engineers released a beautiful, highly informative Guide
to Recreation and Visitor Safety for the Lower Missouri River. This multi-page
map and guide separates the Missouri River into sections according to
Lewis and Clark's journal entries. It includes Missouri River Access,
Public Lands and Parks, boat ramps with fuel, the current river channel
as well as the Missouri River in 1879, the Katy Trail State Park and trail
heads, Lewis and Clark's journal entries, campsites, and so much more.
The guide's design and durability is practical and essential for boat
navigation, and will make an excellent souvenir for this monumental occasion.
This guide is supported by the following agencies: US
Corps of Engineers, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department
of Natural Resources Division of State Parks, and the US Fish &
Wildlife Service. For river maps and info, call the Missouri River
Information Center Toll Free:
1-866-285-3219. The map is also available from Missouri River Communities
Network in Columbia for $5; e-mail Steve
Johnson. or call 573-256-2602.
More Bicyclists
Travel the Katy Trail
Even though
the Katy Trail is two-hundred and twenty-five miles long, a University
of Missouri study showed that the number of bicyclists going the distance
on the Katy Trail has increased in recent years.
The study was conducted over a three-year period and
gathered information from 595 users of the Katy Trail State Park at various
points along the trail. The percentage of bicyclists who travel the entire
stretch of the trail — from St. Charles to Clinton — went from
4% in 1999 to 15 % in 2002.
Additionally, demographic data from the study showed
that the go-the-distance bicyclists were characteristically well-educated
and generally affluent. More users sampled during the study's third year
reported incomes of greater than $75,000 than in the study's previous
two years.
For more information, contact Randy Vessell, director
of MU Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Mike
Cooper - Proprietor
Margot Gendreau - Editor
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