LEWIS & CLARK MUSICAL
On Jan. 17, a troupe of 60 students, faculty and alumni
from Mizzou appeared on stage at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In
honor of the National Bicentennial, MU is producing “Corps
of Discovery: A Musical Journey”, the nation's first musical
drama featuring the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Charlottesville performance
was the first time the University presented highlights of all three acts
of the drama. MU previously presented Act I at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy
Center.
“Corps of Discovery: A Musical Journey”
makes its world premiere May 2,3, and 4th at the historic Missouri Theatre,
located at 203 S. Ninth St. Tickets are available through the University
Concert Series at (800) 292-9136, or online at Concert
Series.
Other scheduled performances include a staged reading
at the York Theater in New York City on March 2, 2003, and at St. Louis'
National Convention of “Opera America” on June 13 and June 15.
For ticket information call (800) 430-2966.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET BILL
INCLUDES LEWIS & CLARK!
It was reported on February 16 that Missouri's
US Senator, Kit Bond, has been busy adding his 'two-cents' into the budget
bill ($254 million dollar's worth!) that is currently waiting for President
Bush's signature. Included in Senator Bond's request was $500,000
for the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center in St. Charles, MO.
As you may already be aware, most of our State tourism
dollars are going to the St. Louis area, and Kansas City. The middle of
the state seems to be a mere pit-stop along the way. Thankfully, Steve
Johnson of the MO. River Communities, has received grants to build a website
focusing on the historical significance of the center of our state for
Lewis and Clark visitors and history buffs.
It's Not Wise
to Fool with Mother Nature (con't):
TWO SIDES
CLASH OVER
MISSOURI RIVER'S PATH
According to the Associated Press
on July 10, 2002, since the decision to return the Missouri River
to a more seasonal flow was currently out of the hands of Congress, Senators
were using a Congressional Hearing to prod the Army Corps of Engineers
to act. The hearing was the first opportunity lawmakers had to publicly
challenge the Corps since the agency postponed, indefinitely, a long-awaited
plan for altering the river's flow to protect endangered fish and birds.
It also came days after the US Fish and Wildlife
Service effectively blocked the Corps from releasing more water to drought-stricken
communities, ruling that endangered shorebirds cannot be moved from drought-exposed
islands and sandbars where they are nesting.
The Wildlife Service says a more natural flow, with
heavier releases in spring and less water in the summer, is the only way
to protect two shorebirds, the Piping Plover and the Least Tern, and a
fish, the Pallid Sturgeon. The Wildlife Service administers the Endangered
Species Act and has given the Corps until 2003 to comply.
The Wildlife Service's plan is embraced by folks who
live upriver, where the plan would provide more water for a booming lake
recreation industry. But downriver barge and farming industries say the
plan would devastate their businesses, and flood-prone communities worry
that spring releases would flood their homes. They point out that drought
has already affected shipping on the Missouri River. For those of you
who visited Cooper's Landing in August, I'm sure you noticed sandy islands
where there never had been before. Folks were actually swimming out to
the sand bars because the river was so low.
One St. Louis-based barge company owner told the Nebraska
Public Radio that low river water will put people out of work, not just
on the boats, but the people that load and unload the barges. The water
level affects people's livelihoods, and it affects the price the farmer
gets for his corn and soybeans...inevitably passing the cost onto the
consumer.
WANTED: OPINIONS!
Come on!
After reading all these articles about the management of the Missouri
River, surely some of you would like to express your opinion! We'll add
an Editorial section so you can express your view point on the subject
of the Missouri River.
Does a 'healthy river ecosystem' include a navigable
river?
How do YOU feel about the
competing interests surrounding the management of the river?
What do you think? We want your opinion,
and would like to post it on our future newsletters. E-mail us how you
feel!
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
OK. Here
goes. I think that priorities need to be considered during extraordinarily
tough economic times.
Nature has always been about the survival of the fittest,
and right now I'm rooting for people! I want commerce along the Missouri
River.
So, there! Surely I've gotten someone's blood
to boil! What do you think? Should we fight for a navigable river for
commerce and agriculture, both areas that benefit our economy?
— By Margot Gendreau (just a city slicker
turned country!)
Please Note: Mike Cooper will be back next newsletter with his more knowledgable
editorial comments.
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
ARCHIVES
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It's Not Wise
to Fool with Mother Nature (con't):
NO SPRING RISE FOR
THE MISSOURI RIVER
On October 2, 2002, the
Associated Press reported from Washington that there will be no
so-called spring rise on the Missouri River in 2003, according to high-ranking
Army Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Service officials.
The Corps was poised in June to reveal how it intended
to alter the flow of the nation's longest waterway, as mentioned above.
Instead, the agency yanked the plan and entered open-ended talks with
the Wildlife Service.
A letter was obtained revealing that the Chief of the
Corps' Northwestern Region asked the Wildlife Service for a reprieve.
Ongoing talks will delay any changes before spring 2003, but widespread
drought would prevent a new plan anyway because higher spring flows are
not recommended when water is in short supply.
The Wildlife Service concurred, saying the Corps won't
technically violate the Endangered Species Act because it seeks the spring
surge only once every three years, on average.
The White House indicated it wanted to delay changes
in flow sought by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, because of the concern
for wildlife.
NO RISE CONSENSUS FACES OPPOSITION!
On December 16, according to a
PRNewswire, a broad coalition of Missouri River stakeholders filed
a notice of intent to sue the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the Corps
of Engineers and State Fish & Game Agencies under the Endangered Species
Act. Actions mandated by the Service and the Corps over the summer shut
down navigation and caused server economic losses to coalition members.
The coalition is comprised of farmers, navigators, municipalities, utilities,
recreation & environmental interests, and industry. This issue impacts
all states in the Missouri River and Mississippi River basins and serves
as precedent for the operation of other rivers.
The notice states:
- Economic impacts were not properly considered when designating critical
habitat for the Piping Plover.
- The Fish & Wildlife Service's alternative for operation of the
Missouri River will eliminate navigation and materially interfere with
power, water supply and flood control.
- The Corps of Engineers and the Fish & Wildlife Service must revise
or remove operational mandates under the Endangered Species Act since
new information shows that endangered and threatened birds have rebounded
and meet or exceed certain recovery objectives.
- There is no basis for a mandated spring rise since one already exists
on most of the Missouri River.
- The management of the upstream reservoirs to support non-native fish
is illegal.
- Hybrid Sturgeon may have been caused by the stocking program rather
than habitat concerns.
- Coalition members: The Coalition to Protect the Missouri River;
the Illinois Corn Growers Association; the MO_ARK Association; the
National Corn Growers Association; Blaske Marine, Inc.; ConocoPhillips;
Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., Koch Materials Company; Magnolia
Marine Transport Company; Memco Barge Line, Inc.; River Barge Excursion
Lines, Inc.; and the Terminal Grain Corporation.
CORPS PLANS A SHORTENED
BARGE SEASON
Here's the latest: according
to the Associated Press on Feb. 15, 2003 (last week), the
US Army Corps of Engineers announced that the barge season on the Missouri
River could be shortened for the first time since 1992 because of drought.
Because of the lack of rain, the Corps said last week
that it will operate the river at minimum service levels and anticipates
the barge season will be shortened by five days in November. The
final decision on shortening the season will be made in July.
Navigators aren't banned from using the river at the
end of the barge season. The Corps just won't provide an adequate water
supply to make it possible. Looks like we'll all have to pray for rain!
As expected, the barge operators criticized the decision
to shorten the season. Don Huffman, manager of Missouri River sales and
logistics for MEMCO Barge Line in St. Louis, called the decision a violation
of the Corps' master manual. “We'd like to see them follow their
own guideline, their own rules,”said Huffman.
AND, remember
from our last issue that 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.
Now you are officially up to date on the two sides
of the issue on how the Missouri River should flow, and how much it should
flow. As I've said from the very beginning, it's not nice to fool with
Mother Nature.
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. Your donation of $5 will be greatly appreciated;
e-mail Steve Johnson. or call 573-256-2602.
Mike
Cooper - Proprietor
Margot Gendreau - Editor
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