(From American Rivers and other conservation organizations--see the list below.) For Immediate Release December 18, 2003 Conservationists react to new Missouri River plan (Washington, DC) The conservation organizations suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to secure the restoration of the Missouri River through reformed dam operations released the following statement following the Administration's announcement that it will amend the 2000 Biological Opinion decision which is at the heart of their case. "We are heartened that even a team of scientists picked and pressured to obtain a different result cannot escape the conclusion that the immediate restoration of more natural flows to the Missouri River is essential to reverse the decline of the river or prevent the extinction of species that live in it. "Nevertheless, the flow changes outlined in this document are smaller and implementation is delayed, and are therefore less likely to result in the benefits for wildlife and for people comparable to those that would be achieved with the flows first prescribed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2000. "Also, our initial reading of this document reveals that the new flow recommendations are packaged along with a number of troubling caveats that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may seize upon as a pretext to make no meaningful changes in its river management at all. "These two facts strongly indicate to us that immediate peer-review by a team of qualified, independent scientists is necessary. We will read this document more carefully and outline our detailed positions on it in the near future." 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] 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 Contact: David Hayes, Latham & Watkins, (202) 637-2200 Richard Duncan, Faegre & Benson, 612-766-7000 Chad Smith, American Rivers, (402) 730-5593 Tim Searchinger, Environmental Defense, (202) 387-3500 Tom France, National Wildlife Federation, (406) 721-6705 Paul Hansen, Izaak Walton League of America, (301) 548-0150, ext 221 Eric Eckl, American Rivers, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3023, (202) 486-7877 (cell) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Make your voice heard! Find out how to get Take Action Alerts and other important Sierra Club messages by email at: http://www.sierraclub.org/email