Coalition works to get the most out of the Mississippi River

The relationship between commercial interests, environmentalists and federal and state governments is often one of adversary, not partner.

Drilling for oil in protected areas, raising fuel efficiency standards and control of logging in protected forests all have become fertile battlefields.

The talk on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel Mississippi on Friday was different. As the huge boat cruised the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau to Chester, Ill., representatives of private interests and the government were pledging to work together.

They form the Middle Mississippi River Partnership -- a coalition that includes groups like the Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri and Illinois governments, the U.S. Department of the Interior and conservation interest groups like the American Land Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited.

The Big Muddy River, which empties into the Mississippi River a few miles south of Grand Tower, Ill., was a point of interest on the low-water tour from Cape Girardeau to Chester, Ill. (Fred Lynch)

Their stated goal is to improve life along the Mississippi River for economic interests, the natural world and the people who live along the water's edge.

The partnership held its first meeting in 2002 and looked to enhance the natural resource while protecting private property rights and commercial and agricultural interest.

Friday's meeting was one of two coordination meetings the group holds each year.

"This is probably one of the best, if not the best, partnership I've ever been acquainted with," said Eric Schenck, a representative of Ducks Unlimited.

The MMRP's focus is on the Mississippi River from its confluence with the Missouri River near St. Louis and its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Ill., including land in the flood plain and islands on the river.

The 16 groups that make up the partnership all have different priorities when it comes to the river, but they share the same goal.

The Army Corps of Engineers wants to create habitats for aquatic life through developing river side channels while maintaining the flow of commercial river traffic. State agencies like the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Department of Conservation seek to promote the river as a natural resource and recreation opportunity for the public while enhancing the natural habitat.

And groups like the American Land Conservancy (ALC) hope to facilitate the move of lands along the river and some islands in the river into the public domain.

"It's not an either-or situation," said Tim Richardson, a lobbyist with the Washington, D.C.,-based ALC. "Now when I walk into an office in Washington, D.C., people say 'That's the group that's working together.'"

ALC currently has an option for purchase of a string of seven islands on the river between Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The group hopes to purchase the islands at fair market value, then sell them to state or federal agencies for public use. One of them is Island No. 10, the site of a former Civil War fortress near New Madrid, Mo., valued at nearly $5.4 million by a certified appraiser.

If the transactions happen, ALC hopes the islands can be used by boaters, hunters and fisherman. To promote river use, the ALC is also pushing for more access. In recent years ALC helped turn the river access point at Thebes, Ill., over to public use and purchased an access point on the Big Muddy River near its confluence with the Mississippi, with the same goal in mind.

The option on the islands lasts through 2006, but the group says it's making headway in shifting those islands over to federal and state entities.

But sometimes working together isn't easy.

Dru Buntin, director of government affairs with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said his department doesn't have the funds for such purposes at the present.

Janet Sternburg, policy coordinator with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said her department can purchase land. But the MDC also has limited funds and wants only land adjacent to current conservation lands.

However, she remains a strong advocate of the partnership.

"What I saw with this partnership is that it's really unique because of the broad amount of participation," Sternburg said. Through the partnership the MDC hopes to address issues like erosion and wildlife habitat, she said.

While the coalition has been formed for a few years, it's now working on a comprehensive proposal to outline the steps needed to accomplish its goals. A study was funded by the federal government in 2005 for that purpose and will be completed within two years.

As the proposal is being made, the parties involved in the partnership are looking at more immediate changes to help them accomplish their goals.

Passage of the Water Resources Development Act is something the Corps of Engineers eagerly awaits, said corps biologist Brian Johnson. The bill will allow the Corps to work with nongovernmental agencies that own land along the river to increase habitat through side channel projects, he said.

The bill is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Kit Bond -- often seen by environmental groups as an enemy for his stand on policy issues.

But the members of this coalition applaud him for his work on river issues.

One of them is Claude Strausser, a retired Corps engineer who was on the forefront of side-channel restoration work in the middle Mississippi.

"You can have economic development and environmental sustainability," Strausser said. "They can work together. They can sustain one another."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182