Below is a joint press release from the National Audubon Society and
     the Sierra Club in response to Corps workshops which start this week.

     I urge any of you to attend these workshops if possible (workshop
     dates are at the end).

Jane Clark
[log in to unmask]
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     CONSERVATIONISTS URGE MORATORIUM ON ANY EXPANSION
     OF COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION ON MISSISSIPPI AND ILLINOIS RIVERS; RELEASE
     REPORT REBUTTING BARGE INDUSTRY'S CLAIMS OF FUEL EFFICIENCY

     Conservationists are calling for a moratorium on any expansion of the
     locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and are
     challenging the claim that barges are the most fuel-efficient means to
     transport corn and soybeans from the Corn Belt to foreign markets.

     In a "Conservation Agenda" released Monday, the conservationists
     stress that a moratorium would save taxpayers at least $1.2 billion in
     federal funds that the barge industry wants to spend to expand the
     lock and dam system.   They also urge Congress to direct federal
     officials to undertake a first-time, comprehensive study of the
     cumulative environmental effects caused by the existing commercial
     navigation system.

     The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the system, has denied
     conservationists' requests that it undertake such an environmental
     study. Instead, the Corps has spent more than $54 million over the
     last six years to determine how to speed and increase barge traffic on
     the two Midwest rivers.

     "Expanding the navigation system will continue to degrade fish and
     wildlife habitat along the rivers and will not benefit American
     farmers," said Dan McGuiness, who heads the National Audubon Society's
     Upper Mississippi River Campaign. "Conservationists are not foes of
     farmers, but we fail to see how subsidizing commercial navigation will
     help them."

     Also on Monday, the Sierra Club released a study by Iowa State
     University economics researchers which challenges the argument that
     barges are the most fuel-efficient means of transporting corn and
     soybeans.  That argument is a key part of the barge industry's
     campaign for a huge, taxpayer-subsidized expansion of the locks and
     dams.

     The new study, which updates a 1985 study financed by the Iowa
     Department of Transportation and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, was
     headed by Professor C. Phillip Baumel. The new study concludes that
     rail is the most fuel-efficient means of shipping corn and soybeans
     from central and western Iowa to U.S. seaports for sale to either
     Europe or Japan. That conclusion would be equally true for shipping
     grain from most origins in the Corn Belt, the study found.

     "This study effectively rebuts the industry's claims that its barges
     are the most fuel-efficient mode of transportation," said Carl
     Zichella, the Sierra Club's Midwest regional staff director. "The
     inland waterway system is heavily subsidized by American taxpayers,
     giving the big corporations that own barges an unfair economic
     advantage over rail and truck transport."

     The Sierra Club is allied with the Audubon Society and other
     conservation groups in opposing the industry's campaign to move barges
     faster by lengthening five locks on the Upper Mississippi and two on
     the Illinois River. Among the major barge owners are such profitable
     agribusinesses as Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and ConAgra.
     Their campaign is headed by a political lobbying and propaganda
     organization, the Midwest Area Rivers Coalition 2000, or MARC 2000.
     Numerous scientific studies have shown that the locks and dams have
     seriously damaged the ecological health of the two Midwest rivers.
     Expanding the navigation system to allow more barge traffic --
     potentially doubling the volume of barge traffic -- would compound the
     damage.

     The Corps of Engineers is holding workshops in seven Midwest cities to
     provide the public with its various alternative plans for speeding and
     increasing barge traffic. Conservationists are urging the public to
     attend the workshops, and to voice opposition to using federal funds
     to continue subsidizing the corporations that control the barge
     industry.

     The workshops, which start at 6 p.m., are at these dates and
     locations:

     Thurs., July 29: BETTENDORF, IA. Belmont Building, Scott Community
     College, 500 Belmont Rd.

     Tues., Aug. 3: DES MOINES, IA. Des Moines Botanical Center, 909 E.
     River Dr.

     Weds., Aug. 4: LA CROSSE, WIS.  Morris Hall, University of
     Wisconsin-La Crosse.

     Thurs., Aug. 5: INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MN. Inver Hills Community
     College, Liberal Arts Building, 2500 80th St. East.

     For more information, please contact:

     -- Upper Mississippi River Campaign, National Aubudon Society, 25 East

     Exchange St., Suite 215, St. Paul, MN  55101   phone: (651)-290-1695

     fax: (651)-225-4686 e-mail: [log in to unmask]

     -- Midwest Office, the Sierra Club, 214 North Henry St., Suite 203,
     Madison, WI.  53703-2200
     phone: (608)-257-4994   fax: (608)-257-3513  e-mail:
     [log in to unmask]
     Sierra Club, Mississippi River Protection Program, Regional
     Representatives:

     -- Illinois, Iowa and Missouri: Mark Beorkrem (217)-526-4480
     [log in to unmask]

     -- Minnesota and Wisconsin: Dean Rebuffoni (612)-920-9632
     [log in to unmask]

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