Big Muddy Speaker Series presents:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a revised management plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Missouri River Recovery Program, intended to help the recovery of three endangered species – the pallid sturgeon, the piping plover and the interior least tern.

This massive document, which provides alternatives to Missouri River management in order to comply with the Endangered Species Act, was released in December, along with a schedule of public meetings and a public comment period that ends February 24. The proposed plan utilizes Adaptive Management to allow managers to more quickly adopt changes based on what the latest science reveals.

Given the complexity and sheer volume of data to be absorbed for the public to be able to make an informed comment, this edition of the Big Muddy Speaker series will be devoted to exploring the scale and scope of the DEIS, and drilling down into some of the data. What are the risks of Adaptive Management to the Human Environment? Are they being adequately addressed in the study? Will these efforts have a positive effect for the present or future listed endangered species?

Tom Ball may be able to help us better understand some of the content and to frame questions by knowing what has already been asked and answered. What could you possibly want to know? Bring your questions.

The Corps will be hosting public Open House informational meetings in various cities throughout the basin to introduce and explain the DEIS and supporting documents and to receive public comments. Locally, the St Louis Open House is scheduled for Feb 16th at the DoubleTree Hilton in Chesterfield, MO from 5 pm to 8:45 pm.

Click here to view the DEIS and supporting science documents. (Some browsers will show a security warning for this site, but the Corps says their certificates are up-to-date. If you do not trust this site, the National Park Service is housing these documents here)