Environmentalists concerned over Current River

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Environmental activists on Tuesday urged the National Park Service to restore the Current River, a southern Missouri waterway that draws more than 1 million people each year for float trips, fishing and other activities.

A statewide coalition of environmental groups delivered petitions with nearly 5,000 signatures to the National Park Service office in St. Louis. The petitions seek reforms to revitalize the Current River, which is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

"The Current River is Missouri's river jewel," said Ted Mathys of Environment Missouri. "But overdevelopment, illegal and unauthorized vehicle use and torn up trails are taking a terrible toll."

In May, the group American Rivers designated the riverways as one of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers, citing overuse and poor management.

The Park Service early next year will release its new General Management Plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The plan will direct management of the riverways for the next two decades. The petitions ask Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis to strengthen protections for the riverways.

Environmental advocates want the Park Service to address several concerns along the Current and its main tributary, the Jacks Fork.

"Unfortunately, these rivers have become badly impaired, due to a combination of overuse by commercial horse ride operators and excessive motorized traffic facilitated by illegal roads," said John Hickey, director of the Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club.

Faye Walmsley, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service office in Van Buren, Mo., that oversees the riverways, said the management plan is expected to be out by late winter or early spring. There will be a period of public review before it is finalized. That review will include meetings in several Missouri communities, Walmsley said.

"The (environmental) coalition has issues and concerns that are being addressed in the draft management plan," Walmsley said.

An estimated 1.3 million visitors come to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the first national park area in the country specifically designated to protect a wild river system. Streams flow into the river, providing clear water that attracts people who canoe and kayak, fish and camp, along with riding horses and all-terrain vehicles.

The river system is also home to the Ozark Hellbender, a salamander species that exists only in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. It was added to the federal endangered species list in October.