Posted by Jane Clark

The Missouri River is one of the most endangered rivers in America.

Governor Vilsack is not allowing Iowa to sign on to a compromise that is
being debated today by the Missouri River Basin Alliance in Denver.
Governor Vilsack supports the status quo for Missouri River management.
Iowa will not support moving forward with the river's restoration through
changes in the river's management.

One reason Governor Vilsack supports the status quo is because he does not
hear enough from conservation and recreation organizations who *do* support
changes to the status quo.
==
The pallid sturgeon, found in the Missouri River, is already on the federal
endangered species list.

The Alabama sturgeon is not the same species as the pallid sturgeon, but
this article brings home the point, "spending vast amounts of money is no
substitute for protecting endangered species in the wild".

         GREENLines, Thursday, January 31, 2002, Issue #1553

  ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD: The one lone Alabama sturgeon left in a
  captive breeding program is the last, living proof that spending vast
  amounts of money on a techno-fix is no substitute for protecting
  endangered species in the wild.  The USFWS  proposed adding the Alabama
  sturgeon to the endangered species list in 1993, but industry lobbyists
  convinced the government to instead spend $3.9 million for a 5-year
  captive breeding program. The breeding program failed, and in 2000 the
  sturgeon was finally listed as endangered, perhaps too late.  Experts
  believe a "few  are left in its prime habitat, the lower Alabama
  River," but none have been captured since 1999, says Findlaw, AP 1/29.

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