The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) met in Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 31-Feb. 2 to discuss the Missouri River Recovery Program’s (MRRP) draft Missouri River Recovery Management Plan-Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that was released in December by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). An accompanying Adaptive Management (AM) Plan serves as the framework for implementing action described in the EIS.

MRRIC provided a formal recommendation, with a written abstention, to extend the public comment period for the Draft EIS to 120 days. In recognition of this recommendation and other extension requests, the Corps is working through the formal process to extend the public comment period until April 24.

Committee members also shared their thoughts on the merits of and concerns about the alternatives proposed, including the preferred alternative. They discussed MRRIC’s role in the MRRP under the AM Plan which will be fully implemented once a Record of Decision is reached.

The members heard a presentation from the Tribal Interest Work Group expressing some of their issues in regard to the river and learned of the mechanisms by which Tribes provide input through government-to-government consultation.

Finally, the committee said farewell to chair Dr. Michael J. Mac, who is retiring after leading the committee since 2011. Ms. Gail Bingham was introduced as the incoming chair.

MRRIC is a 70-member committee that comprises stakeholders and representatives of Tribal, state and federal governments throughout the Missouri River Basin. The committee provides recommendations to federal agencies on the current and future activities of the MRRP. MRRIC was authorized by Congress in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act and was established in 2008 by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). Its duties include providing recommendations to the Secretary of the Army and other Federal agencies on efforts to recover Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species (the pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping plover), mitigate habitat loss, and restore the ecosystem to protect other native species. The committee makes its substantive recommendations by consensus.

The committee meets quarterly at different locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. The next MRRIC meeting will be May 23-25, 2017. For more information on MRRIC, please contact the committee chair at mrric@usace.army.mil.

Additional information on Missouri River recovery efforts is available online at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/mrrp/mrric/ and https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/MRRP/.