From Chad Smith at American Rivers, forwarded by Jane Clark
PLEASE CONTACT SENATORS TOM HARKIN AND CHARLES GRASSLEY.
Missouri River colleagues:
This is the last chance to help stop Senator Bond's anti-Missouri River,
anti-endangered species, anti-public process rider! The vote on this
rider, in the FY 2001 Senate energy and water appropriations bill, is
scheduled to happen tomorrow night, September 6. We need your help to
defeat this
rider. This is a major issue that we need to win to save the Missouri River
and its species!
Below is a list of Senate offices that need to hear from you in the basin.
It includes basin Senators, but also "swing offices" that could be
convinced to vote for the Daschle/Baucus amendment to strike this rider if
they hear from you. I desperately need you and all your colleagues and
friends to call these offices TODAY or TOMORROW and urge them vote to
strike Senator Bond's rider from the bill.
Senator State Staff Contact Phone Number
Conrad Burns MT Ryan Thomas 202-224-2644
Kent Conrad ND Kirk Johnson 202-224-2043
Byron Dorgan ND Curtis Jabs 202-224-2551
Bob Kerrey NE Matt Thornblad 202-224-6551
Chuck Hagel NE Amy Bannon 202-224-4224
Tom Harkin IA Richard Bender 202-224-3254
Charles Grassley IA Sherry Kuntz 202-224-3744
Pat Roberts KS Ashleigh de la Torre 202-224-4774
Sam Brownback KS Sara Hessenflow 202-224-6521
Olympia Snowe ME Ginny Wirth 202-224-5344
Susan Collins ME Dan Demeritt 202-224-2523
Lincoln Chafee RI Christy Plummer 202-224-2921
Judd Gregg NH Michelle Pico 202-224-3324
Jim Jeffords VT Ken Connelly 202-224-5141
John Warner VA Meredith Mosely 202-224-2023
John McCain AZ Jill Peters 202-224-2235
Really push the notion that the rider is anti-public process, and that you
don't want Congress voting to exclude you from the debate on Missouri River
management. If this rider passes, it will take the only option off the
table that meets the requirements of the
Endangered Species Act, and would do so without your input.
I attached the text of a fact sheet on the rider as text below. Also,
don't hesitate to contact me. Please do what you can today and tomorrow to
get these Senators to vote the right way.
Chad Smith, Director
Missouri River Field Office - American Rivers
Mill Towne Building
650 J Street, Suite 400
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
402-477-7910
402-477-2565 (FAX)
402-730-5593 (CELLULAR)
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FACT SHEET ON SECTION 103 - FY 2001 ENERGY & WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILL
PLEASE OPPOSE THIS ANTI-PUBLIC PROCESS, ANTI-ENDANGERED SPECIES RIDER!!!
The FY 2001 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, which will be
debated on the Senate floor beginning September 5, includes an
anti-endangered species rider (Section 103) that prohibits the Army Corps
of
Engineers from changing water management on the Missouri River in ways
needed to prevent the extinction of three endangered and threatened
species.
Specifically, the rider would prevent the Corps from implementing a "spring
rise", or increased water flows in May and June, from Gavins Point Dam, the
last dam on the river. Please support an amendment expected from Senators
Daschle (D-SD) and Baucus (D-MT) to strike this provision.
Facts
A spring rise is necessary for Missouri River fish and wildlife.
Higher late spring/early summer dam releases create sandbars that serve as
important nesting habitat for two birds, the endangered interior least tern
and the threatened piping plover. Higher late spring/early summer dam
releases also act as a reproductive trigger for native fish, including the
endangered pallid sturgeon, catfish, and walleye, according to river
scientists.
A spring rise would not increase the risk of flooding.
The Corps would not release additional water from Gavins Point Dam if the
Missouri River was already flooding, or was threatened by flooding. Corps
analysis shows that a dam management alternative including a spring rise
would preserve 99% of the flood control benefits provided by the current
system.
A spring rise would allow floodplain farmers to drain their fields.
According to Corps analysis, floodplain farmers would be able to drain
their
fields if late spring/early summer dam releases were boosted up to 50,000
cubic feet per second (cfs).
A spring rise would not occur every year.
The Corps would implement a spring rise according to adaptive management
criteria. As proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri
River
flow changes including a spring rise would not be implemented during the 25
percent lowest flow years to maintain downstream flows, or the 10 percent
highest flow years to avoid flooding impacts downstream.
Proposed flow changes would help Mississippi River barges.
Corps analysis shows that a dam management alternative incorporating a
spring rise and lower flows in the summer would lower Mississippi River
navigation costs by $6 million annually during droughts over the current
water control plan.
A spring rise and low summer flows are the best options for people.
A spring rise, coupled with low flows during the summer, would aid
recreation in the upper Missouri River basin by keeping reservoirs higher
during the summer (which helps marinas and other recreation dependent
businesses in the Dakotas and Montana). In the lower basin, lower summer
flows from Gavins Point Dam would attract anglers, canoeists, campers, and
others to the lower Missouri River by providing slower, shallower water and
exposing sandbars built by the spring rise.
Flow changes would help riverside communities.
As recreation and tourism increase, new jobs will be created in riverside
communities. This is critically important for the upcoming celebration of
the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery.
Without the proposed spring rise, Missouri River species will go extinct.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and all river scientists agree unanimously
that extinction of the endangered pallid sturgeon and interior least tern
and the threatened piping plover can only be avoided by a change in river
management to include at least a modest rise in flows during the spring and
low flows during the mid-summer.
Section 103 would prevent the Corps from protecting endangered species.
This rider was not supported by hearings or Congressional fact-finding and
would prevent the Corps from meeting the needs of endangered species.
Section 103 would eliminate the public from the decision-making process on
the Missouri.
Section 103 would remove from consideration one option for changing
Missouri
River management to prevent species extinction. After waiting nine years
for a legally-acceptable Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the public
would not have the opportunity to comment on the full range of available
options and would not be able to provide adequate public comment as
required
by law. Congress should let affected interests have their say.
A spring rise will be subjected to extensive public comment before
implementation.
The Corps will not implement a new Master Manual alternative without a
period of at least six months of public comment. The Corps will present a
range of alternatives for public review and will use that public comment to
make a final decision about a new dam management plan for the Missouri
River. Section 103 would prevent this process from happening.
LCV may include this vote on its 2000 National Environmental Scorecard.
The League of Conservation Voters, recognizing the importance of Missouri
River wildlife, issued a statement that it was considering including the
vote on the anti-Missouri River rider in its National Environmental
Scorecard of 2000. The Scorecard grades each Member of the Congress on the
most important environmental votes cast throughout the year.
Clinton Administration issues a veto threat.
On July 21, the Clinton Administration issued a veto threat for the Senate
Energy and Water Appropriations bill if the anti-Missouri River rider and
other anti-environmental provisions remain attached to the legislation.
PLEASE VOTE TO STRIKE THIS ANTI-PUBLIC PROCESS, ANTI-ENDANGERED SPECIES
RIDER FROM THE FY 2001 ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILL!!!
For more information, contact Chad Smith of American Rivers at 402-477-7910
or [log in to unmask]
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For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
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