Kansas City, Mo.–The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will hold its 25th meeting May 20–22 in Rapid City, S.D. Public and media attendance are encouraged, and an opportunity is provided during each daily session for the public to address the Committee and the lead agencies, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, regarding the Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP).
This meeting will be held at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn, 505 N Fifth Street, Rapid City, S.D., beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 20, and concluding at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, May 22. The MRRIC meeting agenda can be found online at www.MRRIC.org. All meeting sessions are open to the public. The Committee will discuss several topics, including key social and economic attributes of the river that may be influenced by Corps actions.
The Committee has scheduled 12:15 p.m. on May 21, as a designated time for media representatives to interview committee members.
At this meeting, MRRIC will seek final consensus on amendments to its Charter to recognize the Osage Nation as a MRRIC member, add a 29th stakeholder seat, and lift the term-limit provision for the chair and vice-chair appointments. The committee also will seek final consensus on a recommendation to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps to extend the timeline for review of the Yellowstone Intake Project Effects Analysis. The committee will continue to discuss key social and economic aspects of the Missouri River and how these factors may be influenced by actions the Corps may implement to comply with the Endangered Species Act.
MRRIC is a 70-member committee, comprising stakeholders and representatives of Tribal, state and federal governments throughout the Missouri River Basin. This committee provides recommendations to federal agencies on the current and future activities of the MRRP. The committee makes its substantive recommendations by consensus.
For additional information regarding the MRRIC, please contact Dr. Michael Mac, committee chair, by e-mail at info@MRRIC.org. Web-links related to the Missouri River recovery efforts are www.MRRIC.org and www.MoRiverRecovery.org.
The committee, established in the fall of 2008, meets quarterly at various locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. It will begin the upcoming meeting having approved 18 substantive recommendations addressed to federal agencies responsible for Missouri River recovery. The committee’s next quarterly meeting will be held in August in Wyoming.
MRRIC is staffed by RESOLVE, a Washington, D.C. dispute resolution firm (www.resolv.org), under a contract with the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution and with the assistance of federal agency staff.