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) [log in to unmask] 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] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]