-------- Original Message -------- Subject: News: Conservationists sue Corps, Fish and Wildlife Service over Missouri River Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:06:24 -0600 From: "Chad Smith" <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]>,<[log in to unmask]> FYI American Rivers Environmental Defense Izaak Walton League of America National Wildlife Federation Montana Wildlife Federation North Dakota Wildlife Federation South Dakota Wildlife Federation Nebraska Wildlife Federation Iowa Wildlife Federation Kansas Wildlife Federation For Immediate Release February 13, 2003 Contact: David Hayes, Latham & Watkins, (202) (202) 637-2204 Tim Searchinger, Environmental Defense, (202) 387-3500 ext. 3344 Chad Smith, American Rivers, (402) 477-7910 Linda Shotwell, National Wildlife Federation, (703) 438-6083 Craig Sharpe, Montana Wildlife Federation, (406) 458-0227 Jeff Fleming, Izaak Walton League of America, (301) 548-0150 ext. 215 Conservationists sue Corps, Fish and Wildlife Service over Missouri River (Washington, DC) A coalition of regional and national conservation organizations today sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking new operations for six Corps dams that are causing the Missouri River's continued ecological decline and imposing economic hardships on some riverfront communities. The suit charges that the status quo violates three federal laws: the Endangered Species Act, the Flood Control Act of 1944, and the Administrative Procedures Act. The case has been assigned to Judge Gladys Kessler. The federal government now has 60 days to respond to the allegations in the lawsuit. Former Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, now a partner at the firm of Latham & Watkins in Washington, DC, is representing the petitioning organizations, which include American Rivers, Environmental Defense, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, North Dakota Wildlife Federation, Kansas Wildlife Federation, the South Dakota Wildlife Federation, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, the Montana Wildlife Federation, and the Iowa Wildlife Federation. "For years, the Corps' control of the Missouri River has defied science, economics, and the rule of law," said Hayes, now a partner at the Washington, DC office of the law firm Latham & Watkins. "The agency must now be held accountable for failing to be a good steward of the public's river." "Through this legal action we have the wonderful opportunity to save endangered species, improve the health of the Missouri River and produce more economic benefit as well," said Tim Searchinger, senior attorney with Environmental Defense, who helped write the complaint. This lawsuit marks a new phase in the conservation organizations' efforts to bring about a positive change for the Missouri and its riverfront communities. It comes after years of working to build consensus for change by highlighting the ecological and economic benefits of new dam operations. During the most recent public comment period on dam operations, 55,000 Americans filed comments with the Corps, 54,000 of them urging the agency to adopt river-friendly dam operations. Those sentiments have been echoed to various degrees by six of the eight governors in the Missouri River basin, the National Academy of Sciences, the professional association of state fish and wildlife biologists in the Missouri River basin, and the majority of the editorial boards of newspapers along the river. "We regret that it has come to this, but the political climate is such that public opinion, scientific consensus, and the prospect of more jobs along the river have proven insufficient to break the Corps' stranglehold on the Missouri River," said Rebecca R. Wodder, president of American Rivers. "Let's hope the courts can help us move Missouri River management into the 21st century so that the river and the people that depend on it can prosper." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently releases water from its dams on a schedule intended to maximize the length of the commercial shipping season for a tiny barge industry on the lower third of the river. These unnatural flows have driven three species - the pallid sturgeon, piping plover, and interior least tern-to the brink of extinction. The region also forgoes the economic activity associated with "nearly one million recreation-based days of hunting, fishing, sightseeing and boating annually," according to one Corps study. "Sportsmen believed the Administration when it said it would make decisions like this one on the future management of the Missouri River based on science and good economics," said Paul Hansen, executive director of the Izaak Walton League of America. "We are disappointed that it has not yet done so thereby making today's action necessary. The National Academy of Sciences concluded that these changes in flow would 'enhance the valuable fishery resources...increase waterfowl populations... increase the abundance of largemouth bass...attract more anglers to the region...provide enhanced recreational and aesthetic opportunities for both anglers and hunters...result in marked increases in user-days for recreational fishing, commercial fishing, and hunting.'" According to a "biological opinion" issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in November 2000, the Corps was required to modify operations beginning in the spring of 2003 to recreate more natural seasonal water levels. Despite this, the Corps' newly released 2003 annual operating plan calls for no change in dam operations - a violation of the Endangered Species Act. "Today's scant commercial shipping makes it clear that the Missouri River's future depends on restoring the waterway for other economic benefits," said Mark Van Putten, president of the National Wildlife Federation. "The Corps must cease to manage the river based on the obsolete notion that navigation is its biggest benefit and begin a new era of conserving this natural resource for people and wildlife." "The Corps' poor management of the Missouri has led to unstable and ill-timed water levels that threaten our region's prized game fish," said Dave Pavlicek, member of the Montana Wildlife Federation. "These lost fishing opportunities are straining local economies and sending anglers elsewhere to cast their lines." The plaintiffs also charge that the Corps violates the Flood Control Act of 1944 by prioritizing the barge industry, worth at best $7 million annually, over the recreation industry, worth at least $90 million annually. That law stipulates that "to the extent that the several functions of water control and utilization are conflicting, preference should be given to those which make the greatest contribution to the well-being of the people and to the areas of greatest need." The current operations guidance for the Missouri River was banged out on manual typewriters more than 40 years ago, and the ecological, economic, and social conditions along the river have changed dramatically since then. The Corps has stalled development of modern dam operations schedule for over a decade, leading the plaintiffs to charge that the agency is violating the prohibition against "unreasonable delay" in the Administrative Procedures Act. Chad Smith, Director Nebraska 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] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]