July 5, 2009
Alert:  Public Participation and Comments Needed on the New management Plan for the Troubled Ozark National Scenic Riverways
June-July 2009

The National Park Service (NPS) is currently developing a new management plan for Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR).  The Park Service has scheduled five meetings, June 22-26, in and around the Riverways as well as in St. Louis and Columbia for the purpose of presenting a range of draft alternatives to the public.  Also, we are now in a comment period during which the Park Service will receive and review written comments prior to drafting the new management plan. The deadline for public comments is July 31st.

In recent decades the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers have suffered serious degradation from both over use and inappropriate use as well as from blatant violations of various restrictions and legal agreements that the National Park Service has adopted or entered into since ONSR was established in 1964.  Friends of the Ozark Riverways is alarmed by the imminent prospect of seeing sustained long term losses to the outstanding qualities of the ONSR area and the unique natural features that originally warranted Federal protection.  We urge every friend of the Ozark Riverways to attend one of the public meetings and to offer written comments aimed at restoring the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers and the surrounding hills and forests to their natural, scenic, and primitive state and for preserving the unique cultural heritage associated with this area.  All of these values have earned this area the highest respect and place in the hearts of Missouri’s Ozark river float fishermen, canoeists, and conservationists of every
background.

Friends of the Ozark Riverways has studied many of the existing problems on ONSR.  We recommend that responders focus their comments on the following five issues in addition to any others they might wish to address:

  • Overdeveloped River Access

    When the park was established in 1964, NPS suggested that development nodes be carefully spaced with no more than 15-20 access points on the entire 134-mile length of river.  By 1981 the NPS had come to recognize 60 access sites.   By the early 1990’s more than 100 river access points had been opened, and the number has continued to increase up to the present time.   The Riverways has become a de facto series of developments, urban in character and lacking in qualities deserving of national stature. The Riverways has become a severely over-developed and over-accessed resource of lower and lower quality. This alarming trend must be reversed, and all unauthorized access points must be permanently closed.

  • Illegal Use of Motorized Vehicles

    The exploding network of roads has rendered this park almost helpless in controlling illegal trespass by all varieties of off-road vehicles, including ATV’s, four-wheel drives, and motorcycles. Seclusion and quiet beauty are often shattered by the intrusion of motorized vehicles, and today there may no longer be a single gravel bar left that is inaccessible to ATV’s or not threatened by ATV use. Some internet blogs have even advertised the Riverways as “ATV-friendly”. ATV use on ONSR must be totally eliminated.

  • Scenic and Conservation Easement Violations

    Scenic and conservation easements held by the National Park Service on private lands adjacent to NPS lands were entered into in order to protect the river valley within the ONSR boundaries from further developments such as new construction, expansion of existing buildings or compounds, or clearing of the forest, while allowing residents to continue to own and enjoy their land and to pass it on.  In total, there are more than 9000 acres of eased lands inside the ONSR boundaries.  Over the years many easement violations have been ignored by the National Park Service, and in some instances easement restrictions have even been deliberately compromised by the Park Service, thus, contravening its legal obligations as holder of the
    easements. The fundamental legal responsibility of any easement holder is to enforce the terms of the scenic or conservation easement.

  • Commercial Horseback Riding

    Equestrian use of the Riverways is considered traditional by most, but new commercial facilities have been developed that attract huge equestrian rallies sometimes numbering in the thousands.  Such concentrated equestrian activity has left substantial adverse impacts on soils, gravel bar texture and cleanliness, and, especially, on water quality.  In some places, the National Park Service has had to post warnings against swimming in the rivers because of heavy loads of horse droppings and urine.  Equestrian access to gravel bars and river crossings must be regulated and substantially reduced inside ONSR.

Wilderness:  A Welcome Opportunity on ONSR

In addition to the four problem areas outlined above, there is an important opportunity in the present planning process to recognize and protect a relatively small but very choice remnant of Ozark wilderness. The Big Spring Wilderness lies very near the legendary Big Spring.  This is the backcountry portion of the old Big Spring State Park, and it has been protected since the 1920’s. This 3400 acre rugged wild area of mature forest and steep hollows can be recommended by the Park Service in this planning process as wilderness for later designation by Congress. This should be an easy decision, and all conservationists should support it.


Saving our Beloved Ozark National Scenic Riverways

The Current and Jacks Fork Rivers are legendary for their constant flow of clear, cool waters; for the size and number of large springs that feed them; for numerous scenic cave openings in the bluffs; for opportunities to see and hear an exceptional diversity of wildlife; and for memorable recreational experiences such as day-long canoe trips through spectacular scenery; float fishing; camping on clean, quiet gravel bars; observation of wildlife; and back country hiking. The character and terrain of Ozark National Scenic Riverways is particularly well suited for these types of outdoor experiences.  As part of the planning process for a new management plan, the National Park Service curiously has presented four alternatives as a kind of outdoor recreation popularity poll.  We think this is wrong headed. Priorities have long been established in law to guide the National Park Service in administering its lands.  Going all the way back to the Organic Act that established the National Park Service, we find that their primary mission is and always has been:
1)      To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and
2)      To provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.


ONSR has already been significantly degraded by the heavy occurrence of inappropriate activities.  Some might argue that rising demands for all types of recreation necessitate the relaxation of strict conservation standards.  We would answer in this way:  Demands and calls for inappropriate forms of outdoor recreation are the very reasons why we need more and better regulation.  Indeed, if there were no demand for inappropriate activities, then we would never have restrictions in the first place.  The NPS draft alternatives offer a solution, namely, creating several categories of development zones, each supporting different forms of visitor activity.   We urge responders to beware of such zones of developments that could result in fragmentation of land use and loss of the park’s natural character and integrity.


The process currently in use by the National Park Service for the development of this new management plan offers every citizen the opportunity to contribute to the outcome.  Every citizen can help restore and preserve the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers as the crown jewels of float streams in Missouri by offering written comments in this planning process.

How to Obtain the “Preliminary Alternatives” Document

To participate, you should obtain a copy of the National Park Service’s 21-page paper entitled, “Preliminary Alternatives”.  This document was published on the NPS web site at the end of May.  You can download a copy from NPS web sites, or you can obtain a copy from the ONSR headquarters in Van Buren, MO, either by calling the Park Service at (573) 323-4236 or by writing to Ozark National Scenic Riverways, P.O. Box 490, Van Buren, MO  63965.  Downloading the paper from the NPS web site is a bit tedious.  The full title of the paper is “Preliminary Alternatives Newsletter #3, Spring/Summer 2009”.  Here is what you do:

1)      Open the web site on the next line.  Scroll down to the schedule of public meetings.
http://www.nps.gov/ozar/parkmgmt/general-management-plan-information.htm

2)      A few lines further down, click on the long web site address that begins, http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ …  (continued with a long string of  mixed characters).

3)      In the left hand menu column click on Document List .

4)      Click on the first bullet item, a. Ozark NSR, GMP – Summary Newsletter and Preliminary Alternatives Newsletter.

5)      At the bottom of the page that comes up, you will have two options from which to choose. Click on Preliminary Alternatives Newsletter #3, Spring/Summer 2009 . This will pull up a 4.5 MB PDF file.

6)      Open the PDF file, and print it.  Note that this 21 page paper is filled with intricate multi-colored maps, multi-colored graphs, and small font sizes.  To obtain a good readable copy we recommend that you print the document in “high quality” mode.

Sending Your Written Comments

Get out your pens.  When you’ve finished writing your comments, send them to:  Superintendant, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, P.O. Box 490, Van Buren, MO  63965.  Be sure to follow up by sending copies by e-mail to Senator Kit Bond, Senator Claire McCaskill, and your local congressperson.  For security reasons, members of Congress now use special protocols for receiving e-mail.  Call their local offices to find out the proper procedure for e-mailing your comments.

 

Sample Letter.