Contact: Ernie Blazar 202-224-7627 Shana Stribling 224-0309
Thursday, November 1, 2001

WASHINGTON - Senator Kit Bond submitted testimony to the Corps of Engineers today in St. Joe, telling the Army agency that the Missouri River must be protected for birds, fish and people.

His testimony was delivered by an assistant during the Corps of Engineers’ public hearings on potential changes to the Missouri River Master Water Control Manual.

The Corps of Engineers is conducting public hearings in Missouri over the next several days. The hearing in St. Joe was held today. The next Corps of Engineers hearings will be held in Kansas City on November 6th, Jefferson City on November 7th and in St. Louis on November 13th.

Bond’s testimony is attached.

Earlier this week, Bond secured an important victory in the fight to protect the Missouri River.

Senate and House negotiators hammering out a compromise version of the fiscal 2002 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, agreed Tuesday night to retain the language Bond originally wrote into the Senate bill to protect the river.

Bond’s amendment to the fiscal 2002 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, approved by the Senate 100-0 on July 18th, simply gives the U.S. Corps of Engineers the authority to consider other ways to save the three endangered species that live in or along the river besides whatever is recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Previously, whatever the Fish and Wildlife Service decided had to be adopted by the Corps.

Bond’s language allows the Corps of Engineers to consider alternatives other than the dangerous Fish and Wildlife Proposal which will increase flood risk, eliminate river transportation, and reduce energy production during peak summer peak periods of demand. Of critical importance, it also requires the Corps of Engineers to ensure that other congressionally authorized purposes, such as flood control and navigation, are maintained when they make their final decision.

The three endangered species are the pallid sturgeon and two kinds of birds: the piping plover and least tern. Missouri environmental experts believe that there are better ways to save these species besides the Fish and Wildlife flood plan.