Attempt to block floodway project will be overruled

To the editor:

The Speak Out comment criticizing our elected representatives for not caring for our wetlands and the environment is a classic example of misinformation.

The New Madrid Floodway Project has been approved by Congress and the Corps of Engineers. Even the conservation people have come to terms. The project would serve all the landowners in an area of 100,000 acres of fertile farmland plus resident of several cities and other communities. Flooding has affected some of the best farmland in the country in Mississippi, New Madrid and Scott counties.

It is obvious the person making this comment has not put his future on the line by having to pay for land, machinery, seed, fertilizer, fuel, herbicides, labor and all the other things it takes to produce crops. Today's market prices and competition from subsidized foreign products have meant a thin profit margin for farmers.

Flooding in the past has severely diminished crops. Our hats are off to the farmers who have persevered and supported the floodway project. These folks recognize and support wetland areas.

It has taken about 50 years to get the floodway project to the point that construction could start. Recent action by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has turned a decision on the project over to its federal counterpart. A federal agency is being allowed to make state decisions.

The attempt to block this much-needed project will be overruled, and our legislators will be vindicated.

JACK L. HURT

Advance, Mo.