National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior Summary Newsletter and Comment Form

Ozark National Scenic Riverways • Missouri

General Management Plan / Wilderness Study 

Newsletter #3 • Spring / Summer 2009

A NEW PLAN

The National Park Service is working on a new general 

management plan (GMP) for Ozark National Scenic 

Riverways. The last plan was done in 1984. Many things 

have changed at the park since then! The new GMP will 

help guide decisions at the park for the next 15 to 20 years. 

This plan is being done with your help and the help of 

others. We have heard from many diff erent people and 

groups. They either wrote to us or attended public open 

houses. Here are some of the things we heard: 

• There are too many tubing, canoeing, rafting, and 

boating parties on the river.

• There is too much lewd visitor behavior.

• There aren’t enough trails.

• There are conflicts between horseback riders and 

other users.

• The water is being polluted by people, vehicles, 

horses, and motorboats.

• People often scare wildlife and damage the places 

they live.

• Plants and animals that don’t naturally belong 

around here are spreading.

• Some land uses and activities outside the park are 

damaging things inside the park, including water 

quality. 

WILDERNESS

In 1984 the Big Spring tract was found to have “wilderness 

qualities.” At that time, certain conditions existed that did 

not fit in a wilderness. The 1984 GMP made a promise to 

reconsider that area for wilderness if those conditions ever 

changed. Because those conditions no longer exist, this new 

GMP will study the 3,400-acre Big Spring tract. To learn 

what wilderness would mean for that area, please see page 3 

in the larger newsletter.

ALTERNATIVES

There are diff erent ways to look at the future of this place 

called Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and diff erent 

ways to try to solve some of the problems listed above. We 

refer to these diff erent ways as “alternatives.” Most of this 

newsletter tells you about some possible alternatives for the 

park’s future. We want to know what you think about them. 

See the enclosed comment form, and the invitation to public 

open houses is on the back of this summary newsletter. The 

GMP team will use your ideas to revise these alternatives 

and/or perhaps create a new one. The goal is to fi nd an 

alternative that best balances visitor needs, protection of 

park resources, and overall cost. 

The following is some information about the planning 

alternatives for the park. There is a no-action alternative 

(basically, business as usual), and three action alternatives 

that are labeled A, B, and C.

Preliminary Alternatives

*Note: This is a short summary and does not cover everything that’s in the larger newsletter. Please look at the full 

newsletter to get more information. You can fi nd it online (as well as the fi rst two newsletters) at 

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ozar. A limited supply of printed copies are also available upon request—573-323-4236.
 Page 2 • Ozark National Scenic Riverways • Preliminary Alternatives

By law, we need to have a “no-action” alternative. This 

“business as usual” alternative tells you (1) that what the 

park does now is something to consider for the future, 

and (2) helps you understand what might change if another alternative is chosen.

The park offers many things for visitors to do, like canoeing, kayaking, tubing, rafting, johnboating, and fishing. 

Other activities include hiking, horseback riding, hunting, 

picnicking, and camping. The park offers events about 

Ozark heritage and programs about nature. All of these 

things would continue under this alternative. Those 3,400 

acres at Big Spring would not be proposed for wilderness, 

but the primitive character of that area would be protected. 

In this alternative, park managers would create conditions 

that help recall earlier days along the Current and Jacks 

Fork rivers. There would be more opportunities for traditional, nonmechanized forms of recreation, and activities 

that are quieter, less crowded, and slower paced. Protection 

of Ozark heritage, such as local plants and animals and 

Ozark structures and settings, would be important parts of 

creating these conditions. To help restore conditions, many 

signs of park overuse would be fixed. For example, the park 

would close roads and trails that have been illegally developed. 

There would be sections of the rivers where people could 

do some slower-paced activities — the kinds of things 

people did on the rivers in the 1950s or ‘60s. Visitors could 

float some parts of the rivers without the sights and sounds 

of motorboats. In other places, they would encounter only 

lower horsepower motorboats like the traditional johnboats 

of years past. With these types of activities, some of the 

commercial services might change. For example, commercial operators could provide guided overnight float trips 

with gravel bar camping and fishing. Also, the park could 

do programs about traditional Ozark ways of life along and 

on the rivers. For example, living history demonstrations of 

a “float camp” could give people a taste of the past. For the 

Big Spring area, wilderness designation would be proposed.

Park managers would try to help people discover some of 

the more hidden but special things about the park. These 

things might be a remote farm site, a beautiful cave, or a 

unique water habitat. This would be done in various ways. 

The park would set up some small learning centers. Some 

new trails would help guide visitors to an old cabin or cemetery, and some ranger programs would help visitors learn 

more about their Ozark heritage — both history and nature. 

The park would continue to have popular activities like 

floating, motorboating, and horseback riding. But those 

activities would be managed in balance with these other discovery and learning opportunities. This might mean some 

changes in commercial services. For example, new guide 

services might help small groups of visitors explore a cave. 

It might also mean some differences in where motorboats 

could be used. As in alternative A, the Big Spring area would 

be proposed for wilderness designation.

I thi lt ti k ld t diti Th ld b ti f th i h l ld

Alternative B

l d h l h

No-Action Alternative

Alternative A
 Summary Newsletter • Spring / Summer 2009 • Page 3 

Management zones for this plan describe how diff erent 

areas of the park would be managed in the future. 

Zones form the basis of the GMP. Each alternative has 

slightly diff erent zoning to refl ect the overall goal of each 

alternative. The management zones are not applied to 

private lands or easements. 

The following is a summary of the seven zones proposed for 

the park. See the color chart of management zones and the 

maps in the larger newsletter for more information.

Developed Zone: These areas would have mostly 

buildings and visitor facilities (like campgrounds) 

and related services. In alternatives A, B, and C, 

the total number of acres covered by this zone 

would be small. Alternative C would have the 

largest amount of this zone because of that alternative’s focus on enhancing recreation. The larger 

areas would be at Round Spring, Alley Spring, 

Powder Mill, and Big Spring. 

Resource-based Recreation Zone: This zone would 

be managed for a wide range of recreational 

and educational activities. Natural and cultural 

resources would remain largely intact. A lot of 

this zone is used in alternative C because of its 

focus on enhancing recreation. 

Natural Zone: The management priority would be to 

protect the plants and animals and the beauty of 

the scenery. Visitors could easily enjoy solitude 

and natural sights and sounds. Recreational activities would be allowed as long as they don’t cause 

much damage to the environment. There is a lot 

of this zone in both alternatives A and B. These 

alternatives emphasize protecting natural features 

and providing chances for visitors to enjoy quiet 

places and learn about the specialness of the area.

Primitive Zone: These areas would keep their wild, 

natural character. Natural resources and processes would be protected. Visitors could find 

backcountry challenges and solitude. Alternative 

A has the most of this zone. In alternatives A, 

B, and C, much of the Big Spring area would be 

zoned primitive. Note: If the Big Spring tract is 

designated as wilderness (alternatives A and B), 

some additional restrictions might also apply to 

that area.

The following zones include the rivers up to the ordinary 

high water mark.

Mixed-Use Zone (motorized and nonmotorized boats): 

These river areas would include a mix of motorized and nonmotorized boating opportunities. 

Many visitors would be around, especially during 

the busy season. The natural setting would dominate, but the sights and sounds of human activity 

would be evident. Alternative C would have the 

most river miles of this zone. 

Increasing the public’s access to outdoor recreation, like 

what visitors do now for fun, would be the main focus of 

this alternative. During the summer especially, there would 

be many visitors to interact with and the need for a lot of 

traditional commercial services. Providing for community 

and family gatherings would be a major goal. Many rangerled programs would focus on helping visitors connect with 

the resources and improve their outdoor skills. For example, there could be demonstrations of traditional Ozark lifeways and boater and hunter safety lessons. 

The park would develop methods to make sure that greater 

levels and types of visitor use do not damage resources or 

threaten public safety. More facilities, like campsites, picnic 

areas, boat ramps, and trails, would be provided. More staff 

would be needed. The Big Spring tract would not be proposed for wilderness designation, but its primitive qualities 

would be protected.

Alternative C

Management Zones
Seasonal Mixed-Use Zone: These river areas would 

include a mix of nonmotorized and lower horsepower motorized boating during the low-use 

season. The rest of the year, only nonmotorized 

boating would be allowed. The natural setting 

would dominate. The number of visitors would 

vary seasonally. Alternatives B and C would have 

the most river miles of this zone. 

Nonmotorized Zone: Only nonmotorized boating 

would be allowed in these areas. Visitors would 

find that natural sights and sounds dominate, 

except during the busy season. This zone is found 

mostly in alternatives A and B, where the goal 

is to provide more nonmechanized recreational 

activities and more quiet stretches of the river. 

This zone would be applied to parts of the Upper 

Current and Jacks Fork.

Please join us the week of June 22, 2009, for public open houses on these alternatives. We have scheduled 

open houses in Van Buren, Eminence, Salem, Columbia, and St. Louis. See the schedule below for specific 

dates, times, and locations.

If you cannot attend, you can still ask questions or offer comments to the planning team. Use the enclosed 

postage-paid comment form or the general management plan website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ozar

(or via the link on the park’s website www.nps.gov/ozar). You can also write a letter to:

Superintendent, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, P.O. Box 490, Van Buren, Missouri 63965.

Invitation to Comment and Attend Open Houses

City Date Time Location

Van Buren Monday, 

June 22

5:00 –8:00 p.m. Van Buren Community Center, Intersection of Business 60 and D Hwy.

Van Buren, Missouri 63965

Eminence Tuesday, 

June 23

5:00 –8:00 p.m. Eminence High School, new gym, College Avenue, off Hwy. 19

Eminence, Missouri 65466

Salem Wednesday, 

June 24

5:00 –8:00 p.m. Ozark Natural and Cultural Center, 202 South Main Street (Hwy. 19)

Salem, Missouri 65560

Columbia Thursday, 

June 25

3:30 –7:00 p.m. Courtyard by Marriott-Columbia, MO, 3301 Lemone Industrial Blvd.

Columbia, Missouri 65201

St. Louis Friday, 

June 26 

3:30 –7:00 p.m. Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis-Clayton, 7750 Carondelet Ave.

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

Public Open House Schedule

This summary newsletter was printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper. DSC D-173