Ralph O. Morgenweck
Mountain-Prairie Regional Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Denver, Colorado

     Lewis and Clark would not recognize many portions of the mighty Missouri River today.
Over the intervening 200 years, generations of settlers have spent considerable energy trying to
manage the river and carve out a safe and prosperous place to live. We have created inexpensive
and dependable hydropower, flood control, irrigation systems, and navigation opportunities. 
These and other operational goals are balanced and implemented under the U.S. Corps of
Engineers' Missouri River Master Water Manual. 
     Unfortunately, harnessing the Missouri River came at a cost to many fish and wildlife
species that once thrived in a free-flowing river.  The pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping
plover are symbolic of that decline in environmental diversity and quality; each of these species
is now listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered.  The challenge now
facing the Corps of Engineers and others involved in managing the Missouri River is to create a
proper balance in the Master Manual among existing uses which include fish and wildlife and
recreation along with the traditionally targeted uses of flood control, navigation, and
hydropower.  It's not a draconian choice between people and the environment, as some would try
to portray this challenge; we must, by law and common sense, accommodate both.  
     The Service and the Corps have been working together and with others for the last several
years to discuss how the system can be managed. The result of these discussions will be a
document written by the Service called a biological opinion which spells out the actions
considered necessary to avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of the endangered species. A
draft biological opinion was submitted to the Corps on July 31 and will be used to further
discussions concerning the recommended actions.  The final biological opinion is expected by
late September.  The citizens of the basin will have ample opportunity to comment on these
recommendations and influence decision-making prior to implementation of any perceived
controversial action.  
     Let me be clear, returning the Missouri River to its former, uncontrolled condition is
neither necessary to protect the threatened and endangered species nor reasonable in light of the
many human uses now dependent upon a carefully managed river.  Our recommended changes in
river management will keep all the dams in place, help conserve fish and wildlife, and allow
farmers and river communities to continue to receive the benefits of flood protection, navigation,
and hydropower when the basin's citizens need them most.

Dr. Morgenweck is the Service's Mountain-Prairie Regional Director for the states of Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming