OMAHA, NE -- The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will hold its 29th meeting, May 19-21, in Sioux Falls, SD. Public attendance is 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 and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, regarding the Missouri River Recovery Program.
This meeting will be held at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, 1101 N. West Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD, 57104, beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, May 18, and concluding at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 21. The MRRIC meeting agenda can be found online at www.MRRIC.org. All meeting sessions are open to the public.
The Committee has set aside a designated time for committee member interviews with media at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
At this meeting, MRRIC will learn more about recent progress on the Missouri River Recovery Management Plan, including model results for management actions that meet species objectives for least terns and piping plovers, and science and governance components of the Adaptive Management Plan. The Committee will continue to engage with the Independent Science Advisory Panel and the Independent Social and Economic Technical Review Panel on the scientific, adaptive management, and socio-economic components of the developing Management Plan. Additionally, at this meeting, the Committee will participate in a discussion of the consequences and tradeoffs between potential management actions, as part of the PrOACT structured decision making process.
MRRIC is a 70-member committee that comprises 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 mrric@usace.army.mil. Information about the Missouri River recovery efforts is available online at https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/mrrp/mrric/ and https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/MRRP/.
The committee, established in fall 2008, meets quarterly at various locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. It will begin the upcoming meeting having approved 20 substantive recommendations addressed to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who is responsible for endangered species protection and recovery, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who operates the bank stabilization and navigation project and the mainstem dams on the Missouri River. The committee’s next quarterly meeting will be held August 25-27 in Montana.
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.