For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 2, 2002

Contact:
Chad Smith, 402-477-7910
Eric Eckl, 202-347-7550 ext.3023

Fish and Wildlife Service caves to Army Corps pressure on Missouri River

(Lincoln, NE)  Citing drought conditions - but in fact acting to evade an
unwelcome legal requirement - the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers secured the
blessing of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday to once again defer
adopting long overdue revisions to the operating regime for its Missouri
River dams. In a letter to the Army Corps dated October 1, Service officials
backed off their previous requirement that the Corps make changes to its
river management beginning in the spring of 2003.

In their letter, Fish and Wildlife Service concurred with the Corps that
foreseeable drought conditions in the basin next year would preclude higher
spring flows on the river to build sandbars and provide a reproductive
trigger for fish.  The conservation community accepts this assessment,
noting that Service's "Biological Opinion" did not ask for increased
springtime flows during years of drought or flood. However, river advocates
pointed out that the Service appears to have also given the Corps a pass on
the requirement to reduce flows next summer - a step required each year
regardless of rainfall levels.

Drought is merely the Army Corps' latest rationale to stall delivery of its
new "Master Manual" guiding dam operations. Ecologically and economically
straightforward, revisions have been mired by political controversy for
eleven years due to fierce opposition from downstream shipping and
agribusiness interests.

"Does the Army Corps want us to believe that they need rain to put ink in
their printer cartridges to finalize the operations plan?," asked Chad
Smith, Director of American Rivers' Nebraska Field Office. "The Fish and
Wildlife Service had not asked for a spring rise under drought conditions
anyway."

In its September 27 letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service requesting an
extension, the Corps continued its campaign to discredit the scientific
underpinnings of the new dam operation requirements, asserting that
reproduction of two threatened and endangered birds on the river, the piping
plover and the interior least tern, had been strong over the past five
years.  However, this success is due to a period of high river flows in
1997 - conditions the Fish and Wildlife Service has asked the Corps to
re-create to some degree through revised dam operations. Since that time,
reproductive success of the birds has tapered off without subsequent spring
rises to rebuild the sandbars and scour vegetation.

Defenders of the status quo have asserted that low summer flows on the
Missouri could threaten city water supplies, reduce power plant capacity,
and halt river navigation entirely.  But none of these predictions
materialized this summer, despite conditions that kept water levels low in a
manner similar to that requested by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"This summer, with low flows on the river, everyone had drinking water, no
power plants shut down, there were no power outages, and now barges are back
on the river moving grain this fall," said Smith.  "Plus, people got out and
enjoyed the river in droves because of the lower water levels."

In its letter, the Corps made no mention of the pallid sturgeon, the most
endangered species on the Missouri River.  Young sturgeon and other native
fish depend on slow, shallow water in the summer months for survival, but
find little such habitat on the lower river today as water levels are kept
artificially high to support a nearly nonexistent barge industry.

"What about the fish?" asked Smith.  "The Corps not only fails to note why
the birds are actually reproducing, it also conveniently ignores the fact
that native fish like the pallid sturgeon are still struggling to stay alive
on the Missouri."

The Corps' continued resistance to new operations for its Missouri River
dams is contrary to sound science and economics, public opinion, and the
law:

* The science is solid. Two years of study went into a January 2002 report
on the Missouri River from the National Academy of Sciences.  The report
concluded that "degradation of the Missouri River ecosystem will continue
unless the river's natural water flow is significantly restored." In
addition, natural resource professionals working for all of the states along
the river concur with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's water flow
recommendations.

* The economy would benefit. The Science Academy concluded that Missouri
River dam reforms will "enhance the valuable fishery resources...increase
waterfowl populations...increase the abundance of largemouth bass...attract
more anglers to the region...and result in marked increases in user-days for
recreational fishing, commercial fishing, and hunting" and therefore may be
"justifiable solely on the grounds that it represents an economic
improvement" over current dam operations. Already, these activities amount
to an $87 million industry each year in South Dakota alone. In contrast, the
barge industry has dwindled to less than $7 million annually among four
states.

* The public supports change. Out of 55,000 comments submitted to the Corps
during a public comment period on dam operations that ended February 28,
over 54,000 supported the restoration of more natural flows to the Missouri.
Since January, at least eight Missouri River basin newspapers have
editorialized numerous times in favor of restoring more natural flows to the
Missouri. Six of the eight governors in the Missouri River basin have
formally recommended experimenting with flow changes to restore the river.

* The law is clear. The Corps has been on notice since 1990 that its current
plan jeopardizes the continued existence of at least three native river
species. By attempting to pressure the Fish and Wildlife Service into
withdrawing or modifying its requirements, the Army Corps is setting the
stage for management of the Missouri River to be decided in court. This
action undermines the fair and consistent implementation of the Endangered
Species Act, a cornerstone of U.S. environmental protection for 30 years.

"Without new scientific information, Interior has no justification for
letting the Corps off the hook on low flows next summer," Smith warned.
"We're running out of faith that the agencies have the will to manage the
Missouri River like it's 2002 and not 1960, and we'll be reviewing our
options for seeking a remedy in court."

For more information, point your browser to http://www.savethemissouri.org/




Erin E. Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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