For Immediate Release
November 30, 2000

Contact:
Chad Smith, 402-477-7910

Final Missouri River Opinion Released Today

(Lincoln, NE) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released its final
biological opinion on current Missouri River dam operations, concluding a
months-long consultation process and setting the stage for recovery of
troubled Missouri River species.

The final opinion is the result of a formal process required by the
Endangered Species Act and conducted jointly by the Fish and Wildlife
Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.

"This opinion clearly lays out what needs to change on the Missouri River
to
prevent species extinction," said Chad Smith, Director of American Rivers'
Missouri River Field Office.  "It's exhaustive, it's based on a mountain of
science, and it's a reasoned approach."

The Corps' is currently revising the Missouri River Master Water Control
Manual ("Master Manual"), the guide used by the federal agency to set
releases for six dams in eastern Montana and the Dakotas.  This review of
dam operations has been ongoing since 1989, but the Corps has not yet
proposed reforms that would meet the needs of federally protected species.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service's biological opinion, the
interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon are threatened by
dam operations that have eliminated the river's natural flow patterns.  The
opinion also notes that these and other species struggle to survive due to
habitat loss and alteration.

As a result, the biological opinion concludes in a "jeopardy" finding,
meaning if the Corps fails to change dam operations appropriately, the
least
tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon are likely to go extinct on the
Missouri River.

To prevent this, the opinion includes several "reasonable and prudent
alternatives" that are designed to assist in the recovery of threatened and
endangered species.  Suggested steps include a "spring rise" and lower
summer flows out of Gavins Point Dam, a "spring rise" out of Ft. Peck Dam,
habitat restoration, adaptive management of the river system, and intensive
biological monitoring.

Reforming dam operations to include a modest spring rise and low summer
flow
would meet the needs of recreation and river wildlife without impacting the
river's traditional uses, according to federal studies.

River scientists say that increased spring flows are needed to provide a
reproductive cue for sturgeon, and to build the sandbars used by nesting
terns and plovers.  Lower summer flows would ensure that sandbars remain
dry
during the nesting season, and provide shallow water for young fish.

"These fish and birds will go extinct unless dam operations are improved,"
Smith said. "The science is clear - rising flows in the spring and
declining
flows in the summer are needed to avoid the extinction of these species."

A modest spring rise could be implemented without interfering with draining
floodplain farms or increasing flood losses, according to Corps studies.
Suspending barge traffic for a short time during the summer would preserve
Missouri River barge navigation in the spring and fall - when farmers use
the Missouri to ship goods - and would benefit lower Mississippi River
navigation, according to Corps studies.

Current dam operations have long favored barge traffic over recreation and
river wildlife - even though recreation produces at least ten times as many
benefits as commercial navigation.

A spring rise out of Gavins Point Dam, 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.

"Reforming dam operations to include modestly higher spring flows and lower
summer flows would boost recreation and river wildlife and meet the needs
of
the traditional uses of the Missouri River," said Smith.

The Corps will now begin a process of developing a new preferred
alternative
for the Master Manual with the final biological opinion in hand.  That
alternative is expected this spring and will be followed by an extensive
public comment period

"The Corps has consistently failed to implement or even consider dam
reforms
that satisfy the Endangered Species Act," said Smith.  "In the next few
months, the Corps has a window of opportunity to meet the modern needs of
the Missouri River basin, and they must take that opportunity for the good
of the river and the good of the citizens of this basin."

To view the press release from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the final
biological opinion, and to learn more about American Rivers' Missouri River
Campaign, visit www.americanrivers.org.

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