OMAHA, Neb. – The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee met Nov. 17-19 in Rapid City, South Dakota. The meeting focused on developing the Missouri River Recovery Program Management Plan.

The Committee learned about the management alternatives for pallid sturgeon, least terns and piping plovers that will be developed and analyzed in detail in a draft environmental impact statement that describes the plan. MRRIC members also heard the Independent Science Advisory Panel’s evaluation of the current adaptive management plan and pallid sturgeon framework drafts.

MRRIC also heard from the Independent Social Economic Technical Review panel on how alternatives were screened for inclusion in the EIS. 

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 Missouri River Recover Program. 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 February 2015 in the Kansas City area.

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. 

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.