Public comment is being gathered at a series of twice-daily meetings starting Monday in Cheyenne, Wyo., and ending Sept. 2 in St. Charles, Mo. The meetings taking place closest to the Williston area are in Ft. Peck, Mont., on Wednesday and Aug. 17 in New Town.
Paul Johnston is a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District, in Omaha, Neb. Johnston said these meetings are part of the first step in what should be an expansive study taking several years.
“We’re trying to determine the scope of the study. There’s a cliche that says ‘The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.’ We’re trying to find out how big of an elephant we have here. What are the interests of the people in the Missouri River Basin?” said Johnston.
The input, Johnston said, allows the corps to figure out what kinds of interests there are in the areas along the the Missouri River. This allows it to study and decide how to develop an Ecosystem Restoration Plan, as well as an Environmental Impact Statement. The study is being conducted jointly by the corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This study is possible due to the passing of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 by Congress. The Act authorizes provisions for conservation and development of water and related sources, and authorizes various river and harbor improvement projects.
Johnston said most areas where the meetings are have their own unique questions and concerns. Gathering this information helps in creating a proper, all-encompassing study.
“It’ll take a little while to collect, analyze and break down the information we gather into manageable pieces. I imagine we’d break it into a few pieces such as parts of the Yellowstone, Kansas and Missouri rivers and piece them together later,” said Johnston.
Johnston added the study currently is in its early stages and is relatively small. He said as the study’s momentum grows, more local, state and federal departments come on and begin having more collaboration.
Johnston said there is likely to be various environmental, recreational and economic issues to be addressed. He said near Garrison Dam, he could see the topic of access and recreation coming up. Along the Yellowstone River, he said there could be some talk about protecting the pallid sturgeon.
“There will likely be talk about what we can do to help protect endangered and threatened species like the terns and plovers nesting along the river,” said Johnston.
He hopes to have good attendance at the meetings. The more people show up and share their interests and concerns, he said, the better the study should be in the long run.
“We want to make sure we conduct this study with an adequate range,” said Johnston.
Public comment on the study takes place at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center in Fort Peck, Mont., from 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
The meeting in New Town takes place at the Northern Lights Building at 710 East Ave. in New Town, also from 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
For a complete list of meeting dates, times and locations and more information about the project, visit www.mrerp.org.
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