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BIG
RIVER EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS CONDUCTED ON THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER ABOARD A FLOATING CLASSROOM!
NO CHARGE TO ATTEND
The
workshop will be held directly on the river, giving the participants the
opportunity to observe the dynamic and varied Mississippi River first
hand. The workshop will start aboard a floating classroom and culminate
in the use of smaller boats to visit various river sites. Participants
can expect to expand their knowledge of Big Rivers and their watersheds,
as well as receive educational materials on Big Rivers to take back to
their classrooms, civic groups or youth organizations.
WHEN: The workshop will be offered on
Sunday, September 28th and again on Monday, September 29th
WHERE: Participants will meet on a floating classroom docked on the
riverfront right in front of the famous St. Louis Arch.
FREE! No charge to learn more about the national treasure these
rivers represent.
If
you are interested in attending one of these workshops or would like more
information please contact: Bryan Hopkins, Environmental Education Specialist,Missouri
Department of Natural Resources. Call: (573)-751-2452 or 1-800-361-4827
e-mail: Bryan Hopkins,
DNR Or visit Living
Lands and Waters Website
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ON
BIG RIVER CLEANUPS AND EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
For
six years Chad Pregracke's team from Living Lands and Waters has worked
in cooperation with local citizens and volunteers to clean up the trash
from America's Big River Systems. Tremendous progress has been made, with
more than 800 tons of trash successfully removed from the Mississippi,
the Ohio and the Missouri River's. These community-based cleanup efforts
also have served to educate and connect people to the national treasure
these rivers represent.
This year Living Lands and Waters is expanding its river
education efforts. A series of one-day workshops on the Mississippi River
have been developed in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources. The workshops will be offered at various locations on the river
throughout the river basin. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that
ever has."-- Margaret Mead
The primary target audience will be teachers, however,
the general public is welcome, as well as any civic leaders wishing to
learn more about the "Mighty Mississippi." The workshops offer an ideal
opportunity to increase public awareness regarding the importance of big
river systems and to help participants become more familiar with the educational
services offered by their respective states. The general focus for the
workshops will be the following:
- Watersheds:
How they function; The Mississippi drainage basin, along with a simple
watershed model.
- The river
as a natural resource: Drinking water and the river; Its use as receiving
waters for municipal and industrial wastewater; Agricultural activities
in the flood plain; Recreational and commercial fishing along the river,
and additional recreational aspects of the river.
- Impacts to
the river: Non-point source pollution (issues and prevention), along
with other issues that affect the river such as solid waste, flood control,
etc.
- River Stewardship:
How to minimize impacts to the river and how to get your school or community
involved (adopt a river mile, future cleanups, stream teams and other
educational resources).
- Boat trips:
To observe first hand some unique aspects of the river (clam diving,
reforestation efforts, riparian zones, lock and dams, etc.).
Bryan T.
Hopkins, Environmental Education Specialist,
Missouri Department of Natural Resources,PO Box 176, Jefferson City,MO
65102-0176 Ph# 573-751-2452
ONLINE CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
BY DIVISION OF TOURISM
Dear
Tourism Partner:
The Missouri Division of Tourism is preparing to publish a Fall Calendar
of Events for the months of October, November and December. Information
for the calendar will be gathered from the division's online events listings.
In order to be listed in the printed calendar, your event MUST be included
in the events calendar at www.VisitMO.com.
The deadline to enter events and be included in the fall calendar is
August 1.
BIRD NUMBERS REBOUNDING
ALONG RIVER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two species of endangered or threatened birds have
been seen in record numbers along the Missouri River.
About 1,300 adult piping plovers and 735 adult least
terns were counted on the river this year, said the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which on Monday began dropping water levels to comply with
a judge's order to protect endangered and threatened bird and fish species.
The 1,305 plovers set a fourth consecutive yearly record
for the number of birds, the corps said. The plovers and terns have been
raising chicks in record numbers along the river system as well, according
to the corps. The corps' annual monitoring program begins in late April,
when piping plovers first arrive from wintering grounds on the Gulf Coast.
It ends in late August, when the last least terns depart for Central and
South America.
The federal judge ordered water levels dropped to protect
three endangered or threatened species - the least tern, piping plover
and pallid sturgeon, a fish.
River Levels Reduced by Court Order
It finally happened, the environmental groups finally
succeeded in getting the Corps of Engineers to reduce the river levels
during the peak commercial and recreational boating season. This action
will have no beneficial effects on the breeding season for the wildlife
for which it was intended. There are significant negative effects on private
boating interests from Gavin's Point Dam to the mouth of the river.
Commercial barges are stranded. Port operations along
the river are idle. Farmers are unable to ship their products. Marinas
are shut down and facing possible damage to their docks. Boat ramps along
the river are not able to provide access for boaters at these extremely
low levels. Communities, which obtain their drinking water from the river,
are facing potential disruption of their water supplies.
EDITORIAL
I am sympathetic with the goals of the
environmental groups. I also have to give credit to the actions of the
Corps of Engineers. They have been improving habitat along the river for
several years while continuing to achieve their mandate from the U.S.
Congress to maintain navigation along the lower Missouri River. They have
cut notches in the dikes, constructed reverse dikes, and taken other actions,
which have improved breading areas for fishes and birds. I have seen them
reduce flows in the summer which have exposed sandbars for access to recreational
boaters and nesting birds. Hopefully this issue can
be resolved in the future by all the groups reaching a consensus for a
plan which will address the needs of conservationists without causing
economic consequences to the boating communities. It would seem to be
better to settle this dispute by political action rather than arbitrary
decisions by courts.
More information about this issue is available at:
www.omahariverfront.com
— Thanks,
Mike Cooper
New Facilities on the Missouri River
In our last
edition of the newsletter only two months ago, I reported several new
projects to provide services along the Missouri River. Since then there
is more good news. The Nivert family of Boonville is making plans to build
a new marina on the North bank of the river. This is exciting news for
boaters on the Missouri River and for the City of Boonville. BIGP funding
has finally become available and plans are progressing at Glasgow. Plans
are progressing to obtain two barges from the former casino at St. Joseph,
MO. We have also heard from a family in Sugar Creek, MO (near Kansas City)
interested in providing services.
Now for the bad news. The communities that will benefit
most from increased recreational use of the river are doing nothing to
prepare for the Lewis and Clark Commemoration. By providing docks and
other services to boaters, these communities will bring increased traffic
to their businesses. The new facilities being constructed along the river
will not only be valuable for 2004 activities but will continue to serve
the communities and the increased recreational uses of the river into
the future. Communities such as St. Charles, Herman, Jefferson City, Boonville,
Waverly, Lexington, Wellington, Napoleon, and Kansas City can increase
visitors to their cities by providing a dock. It amazes me that cities
with potentially gigantic boating communities like Kansas City and St.
Charles don't provide docks on the Missouri River. Both
of these cities are having river clean ups this summer sponsored by Missouri
River Relief. We can hope these events will focus attention on the potential
interest that the public has on using and preserving the Missouri River.
Communities and businesses can contact Missouri River Communities Network
for assistance coordinating their activities with other groups making
plans for future recreational use of the river.
ONE BOATER'S
VIEWPOINT
I
am embarking on a project to write to each of our federal legislators
in Washington about the Missouri River level for the summer. This endangered
species has gone way overboard. If the environmentalists want to have
the river all to themselves "exclusively" without anyone else's enjoyment
or commerce transportation, then I guess that's what will happen at the
taxpayer's expense.
On the Mississippi River, and the Illinois River, there
is an abundance of barge traffic and pleasure craft traffic. The reasons
we have concluded are: 1. The channel depth is well maintained by the
corps
2. The channel is well marked with buoys
3. There are facilities for gas and pump-outs about every 25-40 miles.
4 The river towns along the banks are "boater friendly" with docks and
slips so the boater can go into the business area and spend some money
on local goods.
If the new court decision goes forward and the river
level goes lower than anyone can use it other than canoes and kayaks,
then we will be forced to move to another river to enjoy recreation and
commerce. During our 652 mile boat journey upstream, we encountered maybe
3 barges and no other pleasure craft, only small fishing boats.
I thought maybe I would sound-off and let you know how we feel. The
Missouri River is a diamond that has not been discovered by the
population yet. It can be so much more than it is today.
We are slipped at Cottonwood Marina in Blair, NE. There
is much more recreational boating up here, however still limited on docks,
slips, pump-outs, and GAS PUMPS.
Regards, Jack Mc Sweeney
We're glad
you're thinking of contributing, like Jack Sweeney has, 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
Mike
Cooper - Proprietor
Margot Gendreau - Editor
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Teachers, Students Invited to a Missouri River Educational
Event
A massive clean-up of the Missouri
River in eastern Missouri this September is being used as a springboard
for an educational event targeting K-12 students. Professional educators
from public and private agencies will be presenting a variety of exhibits
and presentations relating to the Missouri River, stream protection and
water quality.
The educational event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m., Friday, Sept. 19, at the Lewis and Clark Boathouse and parking
lot on the waterfront in St. Charles, Mo. The event will include a stream
table and other exhibits, enviro-entertainment and discussion groups.
Nationally renowned river activist Chad Pegracke and
his crew of river activists will be present to talk to students about
their work cleaning big rivers in the central United States. His fleet
of barges and boats will be moored for students to see along the waterfront
in St. Charles, Mo.
Students are invited to bring their own environmental
projects to exhibit at the event. They will also be invited to participate
with their families in the clean-up scheduled the next day from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20. Boat operators from the Missouri Department
of Conservation will drive volunteers to pre-scouted trash sites on the
riverbanks and islands. Life jackets will be provided. Volunteers will
pile trash along the shore and Chad's industrial-strength crew will haul
it to the "trash" barge for sorting and proper disposal.
River Relief is a not-for-profit corporation with the
mission to clean and restore the Missouri River. The group helps coordinate
local volunteers and businesses with government agencies to conduct clean-ups
of the Missouri River and KATY trail. Since its first cleanup in 2001,
River Relief has helped 2,000 volunteers clean more than 100 tons of trash
and debris from the shores of the Missouri River.
If you or your school wants to participate in the "Big
Muddy" education day, then contact education coordinator Steve Mellis
at (573) 442-5084 or at mellis2@earthlink.net.
Missouri River Education Day:
- Time -- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Date -- Saturday, September 20, 2003
- Location -- The Lewis and Clark Boathouse on the
waterfront in St. Charles, Missouri.
Click here for one page
brochure (in Acrobat .pdf format).
Missouri
River Communities Network
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial AmeriCorps Project
The Lewis
and Clark Expedition up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back
to St. Louis in 1804 to 1806, represents one of the cornerstones of
the cultural heritage of the United States of America. Missouri River
Communities Network has received funding for an AmeriCorps Project that
will provide organizing assistance, educational presentations, and hands-on
work projects in communities along the Missouri River. The objectives
of this project are:
- Educate
citizens about the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in Missouri;
- Educate citizens
about the history of the Missouri River, what it looked like in 1804,
how it has changed and how it is the same;
- Help Missouri
River communities plan and implement Lewis and Clark Commemoration activities
and prepare for the visitors that will be coming in 2004 through 2006;
- Help improve infrastructure
and services for recreational boaters on the Missouri River who want
to participate in the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Expedition Re-enactment
Flotilla;
- Increase people's
understanding of the value of, and the methods for, improving water
quality in the Missouri River and its tributaries;
- Help Missouri
citizens participate as volunteers in the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Commemoration activities.
AmeriCorps
Members would undertake the following activities toward the Lewis and
Clark Bicentennial in Missouri. AmeriCorps Activities:
1. Help river communities organize and implement Lewis
and Clark Bicentennial events.
2. Set up and staff the Lewis and Clark Educational Village package for
several communities in 2003, 15 communities in 2004 and the Missouri State
Fair in the summer of 2003.
3. Recruit and train volunteers to help staff the 15 events and provide
historical interpretation.
4. Make Lewis and Clark historical presentations to 30 civic, community,
or faith-based groups in 2003 and 2004.
5. Make Lewis and Clark historical presentations to 40 public schools
or faith-based classrooms.
6. Organize at least three Katy Trail clean up projects, plant trees along
the Katy Trail, and organize community wide river front clean ups.
7. Produce and distribute two editions of a "Lewis and Clark in Missouri"
newsletter.
8. Help organize and train volunteers to staff zebra mussel washing stations
to clean off recreational boats during the Bicentennial in 2004 to try
and stop zebra mussels from getting into our lakes and streams.
9. Assist three communities in planning, designing and working to construct
riverfront recreational facilities.
10. Recruit and organize local Missouri Stream Teams along the Missouri
River and its tributaries.
11. Publicize and update the "Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Byways Driving
Loops" website [moriver.org] that features the smaller river communities
along the Missouri River in Missouri.
12. Maintain a Lewis and Clark E-Mail Contact List for people who sign
up to receive information. Thousands of people will receive updated information
via email about events, resources, entertainment, festivals, and exhibits.
13. Plan, organize, implement and staff a traveling Lewis and Clark bookstore
and memorabilia shop. Thousands of interested visitors will buy Lewis
and Clark related information and the profits would help support the educational
project.
This AmeriCorps Project will provide
river communities with a basic package of a Lewis and Clark Historic Village
that can be set up at local Lewis and Clark events.
The Lewis and Clark Historic Village includes:
— Old
fashion canvas tents that will be filled with historical exhibits about
Lewis and Clark's journey through the State of Missouri and across the
country;
—
Information about the Native Americans that were present in Missouri during
the early 1800's, (Osage, Sac & Fox, Missouri, etc.).
— Information about York, Captain Clark's African-American slave
that accompanied the expedition the entire trip.
— A slide show about Lewis and Clark in Missouri; § The Missouri
Territory survey maps (from the Missouri State Archives) showing the Missouri
River of 1816 and detailing their journey through Missouri;
—A Lewis and Clark educational trunk for young people built by the
Manitou Bluffs Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation;
— The Missouri Department of Conservation Lewis and Clark Video;
— Numerous books and articles on Lewis and Clark in
Missouri;
We are working with our agency partners to provide resources for the Lewis
and Clark Historic Village, which will include:
—
The Missouri Department of Conservation's dugout canoe, a scale replica
of the original keelboat of the expedition, and samples of furs, shells
and other wildlife that would have been a part of the river habitat of
1804;
—The Army Corps of Engineers display on the Missouri River and their
Wildlife Mitigation Project.
— The Missouri Division of Tourism's promotional display on Lewis
and Clark;
— The Missouri Life Magazine's tourism guide to Lewis and Clark in
Missouri.
In
addition, MRCN will help communities write funding proposals to the Missouri
Arts Council, the Missouri Humanities Council and other funders for additional
exhibits and activities, including:
— Native American history and storytelling;
— Character actors to portray historical figures of the era such
as: Thomas Jefferson, William Clark, John Colter, Droulliard, York, etc.
— Storytellers to present stories about the expedition;
— Musicians presenting original songs and music of the period.
The Americorps Project members will set up the Village, put on historic
1800's period clothing and provide interpretation for the various exhibits.
MRCN (and
the AmeriCorps Project) are also helping to coordinate public safety,
emergency services, fuel, sewer pump-out, and mooring for recreational
boaters who are interested in participating in the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Missouri River Re-enactment Flotilla. Agencies participating in that effort
include: the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Water
Patrol, the Missouri Highway Patrol, the Missouri National Guard, the
U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Missouri Association
of Sheriffs, the Missouri Association of Police Chiefs, the Missouri Departments
of Conservation, Natural Resources, Tourism, Transportation, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, and the MARC 2000 (navigation industry non-profit).
Other Lewis and Clark projects
that MRCN is working on include:
- Lewis
and Clark Historical Signage Program for Missouri Communities
The Lewis and Clark Historical
Signage Project is a project to create and install 90 historic signs
along the Missouri River detailing the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery's
trip through Missouri. About 65 of these signs will be located on property
owned by the Missouri Departments of Conservation or Natural Resources.
The remaining 25 signs will be located in small communities along the
Missouri River. MRCN is working with these 25 communities to finalize
the placement of the signs, coordinate installation of the signs, and
insure maintenance of the area for five years.
- Mid-Missouri
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Tourism Fulfillment Project
Tourism professionals representing several Mid-Missouri
communities, (Washington, MO to Brunswick, MO) are working cooperatively
to research, design, develop and implement a website that will provide
tourists with internet access to information about historical Lewis
and Clark Corps of Discovery sites in the State of Missouri via a map
detailing specific locations, directions on how to drive, ride or walk
to the locations, notated sights of interest along the trail (such as
Thomas Jefferson's gravemarker at the University of Missouri-Columbia
campus), as well as lists of lodging opportunities and other services
along the trail in Missouri. The website has been completed and can
be viewed now at: www.moriver.org/bicentennial
- The Lewis and
Clark Bicentennial Re-Enactment Flotilla Support Project
This project funds a staff person who is coordinating
the process to plan, fund and implement support services to individuals
who are planning to follow the route of the re-enactment of Lewis and
Clark in a boat on the Missouri River specifically during the May 15,
2004 to July 15, 2004 period while the "Re-enactment Flotilla" is in
the State of Missouri.
These support services will include, (but not be limited
to): gasoline; pump out of gray and black water; arranging of camping
along the river; mooring at night; fresh water; first aid; emergency
services; rescue; connections to motor repair; river maps; education
about zebra mussels as well as inspection of boats and cleaning services;
communication services regarding local historical sites and events along
the river, education and (perhaps most important) coordination between
all of the local, state and federal agencies involved, (Army Corps of
Engineers, US Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, National Park Service,
Missouri Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, Missouri
Division of Tourism, Missouri Lewis & Clark Commission, etc) as well
as the non-profit organizations, (National Lewis and Clark Heritage
Trail Foundation, the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council,
the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles, and others).
- Mid-Missouri
Communities Lewis and Clark Festival Support Project
The Missouri River Communities Network is working
with communities along the Missouri River route of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition in the State of Missouri, to help those communities (who
want assistance), to plan and implement Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Commemoration activities in their town in the year 2002, 2003, or 2004.
These activities would be organized to help build
the capacity of people in local communities to prepare for the Lewis
and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration in 2004 to 2006 as well as promoting
the heritage of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to local citizens and
tourists. MRCN will essentially provide basic resources and administrative
assistance to those communities that wanted to organize a stand alone
Lewis and Clark Heritage event or if they wanted to include a Lewis
and Clark history component as a part of their existing "heritage festival".
The project will gather resources to help communities:
hire Lewis and Clark "re-enactors" set up camp and make living history
presentations; story-tellers who present stories about the Corps of
Discovery; historians to make presentations about the history of Lewis
and Clark in the community where the event was taking place; musicians
to sing and play music about the Lewis and Clark and the Missouri River;
etc.
MRCN Published
"Lewis and Clark in the Boonslick" With the Boonslick Historical Society
The "Lewis
and Clark in the Boonslick" by Jim Denny, includes commentaries not
only from the Lewis and Clark Journals (edited by Gary Moulton of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln,) but also from other early Missouri River
travelers who described these important sites along the Missouri River
between the Osage River and Rocheport. Denny's identification of the sites
is a result of painstaking comparisons of all the known accounts relating
to the sites as well as maps from a variety of sources, personal visits
to the sites, and consultations with knowledgeable authorities. The book
is in it's second printing and can be ordered from MRCN for $5.00
through our website at: www.moriver.org.
Funding for these projects has generously been provided by:
- The Missouri
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission
- The National
Park Service
- The Missouri
Department of Conservation
- The Missouri
Community Service Commission
- The National
Community Service Corporation
- The A.P. Green
Foundation
- The W. T. Kemper
Foundation
- Patricia Jones
- The City of Boonville,
Missouri
- Missouri Life
Magazine
- The Columbia
Convention & Visitors Bureau
- The Ameren UE
Corporation
- And the Members
of the Missouri River Communities Network
Steve Johnson
Missouri River Communities Network
Outdoors Building, 200 Old Business 63 South Columbia, MO 65201-6081
Phone: 573-256-2602; Fax: 573-256-1216;
Email: moriver@coin.org website:
www.moriver.org
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