Guest Commentary
                      Ralph O. Morgenweck
               Mountain-Prairie Regional Director
                U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

                                

     Lewis and Clark would not recognize many portions of the mighty Missouri River today. 
Back then, settlers complained that the rich organic water of the Mighty Mo was "too thick to
drink and too thin to plow." Over the intervening 200 years, generations of settlers have spent
considerable energy trying to manage the river and carve out a safe and prosperous place to live.
Through creation of a system of Federal reservoirs and navigation improvements, we have
created inexpensive and dependable hydropower, flood control, irrigation systems, and
navigation opportunities for the benefit of the public.  These and other operational goals are
balanced and implemented under the U.S. Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Master Water
Manual.  This Manual, last revised in the 1960s, is now being considered for revisions in the near
future.    
     Unfortunately, harnessing the Missouri River came at a cost to many fish and wildlife
species that once thrived in a free-flowing river.  The pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping
plover are symbolic of that decline in environmental diversity and quality; each of these species
is now listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered.  The challenge now
facing the Corps of Engineers and others involved in managing the Missouri River is to create a
proper balance in the Master Manual among existing uses which include fish and wildlife and
recreation along with the traditionally targeted uses of flood control, navigation, and
hydropower.  It's not a draconian choice between people and the environment, as some would try
to portray this challenge; we must, by law and common sense, accommodate both.  
     When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, it mandated all federal agencies to
use their authorities to conserve threatened and endangered species.  In compliance with the
ESA, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers have been working
together and with others for the last several years to discuss how the system can be managed to
ensure that threatened and endangered native fish and wildlife are not forced into extinction.
     The result of these discussions will be a document written by the Service called a
biological opinion. The biological opinion will spell out the actions considered necessary to
avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of the Federally listed species that rely on the
Missouri River.  A draft biological opinion was submitted to the Corps on July 31 and will be
used to further discussions concerning the recommended actions.  The final biological opinion is
expected to be completed by late September. 
     The least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon have depended upon the river for
thousands of years, yet our current actions have pushed them to the brink of extinction.  The
essential elements of the recommendations will focus on the fact that these three species, and
others, evolved in conjunction with the ecology of a natural prairie river.  Unfortunately for these
species, many portions of the river are operated to maintain a system with little resemblance to a
natural, free-flowing river. All is not doom and gloom, however, on the Missouri River.   Enough
places still exist within the river system to allow these natural habitats to be restored and
maintained, thus preventing the extinction of the river's natural heritage. The goal is to help the
endangered species without unduly compromising other uses of the river.   
     Let me be clear, returning the Missouri River to its former, uncontrolled condition is
neither necessary to protect the threatened and endangered species nor reasonable in light of the
many human uses now dependent upon a carefully managed river.  Our recommended changes in
river management will keep all the dams in place, help conserve fish and wildlife, and allow
farmers and river communities to continue to receive the benefits of flood protection, navigation,
and hydropower when the basin's citizens need them most.
     Recently, the Service has been accused in the media of proposing new changes that are
not based on sound science and that will not receive public input.  Nothing could be further from
the truth.  The final biological opinion will use the most current scientific information as the
basis for recommending any changes in management.  The recommendations from the Service
are similar to a recommendation from the Missouri River Natural Resource Committee, an
organization comprised of state Game and Fish officials from the Missouri River basin.  Over the
last two years the Service has also received biological input from Missouri River basin states,
Tribes, and others and we have worked to ensure this information is used in the biological
opinion.  Throughout the next six months, the public will also have an opportunity to comment
on actions identified in the biological opinion as these recommendations are discussed in
hearings and open houses associated with either the Master Manual revision or the proposed
annual operations.  The citizens of the basin will have ample opportunity to comment on these
recommendations and influence decision-making prior to implementation of any perceived
controversial action.  
     The goal of the Service is to ensure the actions proposed to prevent the extinction of
native species are reasonable, based on sound science, and are within the authority of the Corps
to implement.  Thus, the criticism that we will turn back the clock to the days of massive floods
and droughts is ill-founded.  The goal is also to produce a set of milestones that will be used to
ensure progress is taking place toward conservation of threatened and endangered species.   I
believe the two agencies should be commended for working together to find ways to manage the
river so that species such as the pallid sturgeon will be around for our children and
grandchildren, while continuing to provide essential flood protection, hydropower, recreation,
and navigation.  I encourage everyone to log on to our website at http://www.r6.fws.gov to view
additional information about the ESA, this ongoing consultation, and endangered species of the
Missouri River.
                         
Dr. Morgenweck is the Service's Mountain-Prairie Regional Director for the states of Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming