Number: 2002-03
WHEREAS, the Missouri River is the nation’s longest river, flowing approximately 2,500 miles, and drains one sixth of the United States, which includes all or parts of ten states; and
WHEREAS, the Missouri River has an incredibly important place in the history and development of the United States as the major thoroughfare for the eastern half of Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery, which began in 1803 under President Thomas Jefferson and ended in 1806; and
WHEREAS, the Missouri River supports important forest and aquatic habitat for a wide variety of fish and wildlife, including over 150 fish species, at least 60 species of mammals, over 300 species of birds, and approximately 50 species of reptiles and amphibians; and
WHEREAS, the Missouri River is one of the country’s most highly engineered river systems, with six large dams on the upper river that can store up to about 73 million acre-feet of water, and a channelized lower river, which has been reduced it to one-tenth of its original width and has been isolated from its floodplain; and
WHEREAS, transforming the Missouri River into a narrow, faster and deeper channel to make commercial navigation feasible and to reduce flood occurrences has taken a tremendous toll on fish and wildlife, and recreational opportunities; and
WHEREAS, several species native to the Missouri River are now on state and federal watch lists, and two birds and one fish species are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act; and
WHEREAS, in the Missouri River basin, the endangered least tern and threatened piping plover depend on unvegetated sandbars and islands in the river for nesting and are directly affected by water level changes, and the endangered pallid sturgeon and other native fish habitat require overbank flooding in April, May and June; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that in order to save the federally listed least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for operating and managing the upper mainstem reservoir system, must alter the dam operation to mimic the river’s natural flow; and
WHEREAS, current management practices, continued encroachment on the Missouri River system’s floodplains, potential invasion of non-native species, such as zebra mussels, and potential water diversions in North Dakota, including the Northwest Area Water Supply project, the Garrison Diversion project and an inlet at Devils Lake, threaten to further degrade the ecological health of the system; and
WHEREAS, there are major concerns about the critical need to rebalance the Missouri River system’s uses and resources to make the protection and restoration of the river’s ecological health a higher value than navigation.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its Annual Meeting assembled March 7-9, 2002 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, declares its commitment to protect and restore the ecological health of the Missouri River as a critically important historical wildlife resource, as an example of the future direction of water resource management in the United States and internationally; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation continues to oppose water diversion and other projects that threaten to further degrade the ecological health of the Missouri River; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls upon the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the primary manager of the Missouri River, to give equal consideration to the fish, wildlife and recreational values of the Missouri River system, and to manage the Missouri River in a way that will restore a more natural river flow and support the recovery of threatened and endangered species.