Forwarded by Jane Clark

For Immediate Release  Contact:  Chad Smith, (402) 477-7910
April 22, 2003      Peter Kelley, (202) 270-8831 cell

Statement of Rebecca R. Wodder, President of American Rivers
on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service letter on Missouri River operations


"We were extremely disappointed to learn today of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's April 21 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers 'supplementing' its
November 2000 biological opinion on Missouri River operations. This letter
is really more like a full retreat.

"For the people who live and work along the Missouri River, this letter is a
sad way to mark Earth Day, as the Service has apparently caved in to
political pressure and decided to support another year of managing the river
for 'barges first.' Meanwhile, it will continue to ignore the need for
long-term changes to help recreation, fish and wildlife.

"What the Service refers to as 'fine-tuning' of the summer flows required by
its previous biological opinion is in fact a complete abandonment of the
required summer 'low flow' operations that its own scientists know are
biologically necessary.

"Even the limited restrictions on summer water releases stated in the 2003
management plan will likely never be enforced -- because the Corps has given
itself, and the Service has endorsed, the option of releasing more water
from the dams, if flows from the tributaries below Gavins Point Dam are not
high enough to float barges all through the summer. In the current drought
conditions, it would be nearly impossible for the tributaries to provide
enough water, so we expect Gavins Point restrictions to be routinely
exceeded to meet flow levels for navigation.

"Higher summer flows will likely destroy nesting birds. And the Service
doesn't even try to help the pallid sturgeon. There is no scientific basis
for modifying the Service's previous biological opinion. No studies show
that the Corps' river operations have ceased being lethal to these
endangered and threatened species. This letter fails completely to justify
the Corps' operation of the river for the barge industry, while it ignores
the needs of native sport fisheries, upstream recreationists and other river
users."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see:
 http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp