Park service seeks input on plan for Ozark National Scenic Riverways

The Ozark National Scenic Riverways sign at one of the entrances, Sept. 8, 2004, with a truck making its way along Missouri Highway 19. (Associated Press file) [Click to enlarge]

National Park Service officials will hold five meetings next week to allow people to assess the options for a new 20-year plan that will affect development along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers.

Based on several hundred responses from meetings held in 2006 to gauge public opinion, the National Park Service developed four alternatives for a new general management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

The alternatives present a range of how much development, such as new RV sites and campgrounds, would be allowed and a range of restrictions on water vehicles. The fourth alternative proposes no new action.

Park public information officer Elisa Kunz said satisfying all of the visitors is difficult because groups have opposing objectives. The Ozark National Scenic Riverways hosted 1.3 million people last year. Some go to drive all-terrain vehicles or motorboats, while others go in search of a quiet canoe trip. She said the feedback of all visitors is important in forming the management plan.

"We're trying to get as many comments as possible so that we really understand what people want from their national park," Kunz said. "Because ultimately, we work here, but it's the people of the United States that own this place."

Canoeists float past a herd of wild horses along the Current River near Eminence, Mo., in this 2003 file photo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) [Click to enlarge]

The system of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers was the first to be protected in a national park when Ozark National Scenic Riverways was established in 1964. Concerns over the way visitors have been using park resources have environment advocacy organizations calling on the public to speak out.

Kathleen Logan Smith, executive director of the St. Louis-based Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said a balance must be found in order to satisfy human needs and the needs of the environment. Smith said it is necessary to find "ways so that people can love it without loving it to death."

Some activities have a detrimental effect, Smith said. She cited the large number of river access points for motorboats as a major problem because it increases erosion and introduces pollution, altering the chemistry of the water system. Her organization is calling on people with an interest in preserving and protecting the natural resources of the park to attend the meetings and weigh in on the management plan.

Smith said the park has been somewhat lax on enforcing regulations but acknowledged that it might be partly because of a lack of resources. Kunz said enforcing regulations at all times on 134 miles of rivers is not always possible.

The meetings are:

* 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Van Buren Community Center, intersection of Route D and Business 60 in Van Buren, Mo.

* 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Eminence High School's new gym, 1 Redwing Drive in Eminence, Mo.

* 5 to 8 p.m. June 24, Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center, 202 S. Main St. in Salem, Mo.

* 3 to 7 p.m. June 25, Courtyard by Marriott, 3301 Lemone Industrial Blvd. in Columbia, Mo.

* 3 to 7 p.m. June 26, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 7750 Carondelet Ave. in Clayton, Mo.

For more information on the park and the management plan meetings, go to www.nps.gov/ozar.

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