Updated 2:40 p.m. Jan. 22:
The National Park Service is holding the last public meeting on its proposed management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways tonight in Kirkwood. See below for more details.
Updated 3:10 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. Jan. 7:
The National Park Service is postponing public meetings on its draft management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways due to bad weather and road conditions.
The meetings were originally scheduled for Jan. 7 in Van Buren and Jan. 8 in Salem and Kirkwood.
The public has until Feb. 7 to submit comments on the draft plan, either at a public meeting or online.
Here are the new meeting locations and dates, from the National Park Service's Ozark National Scenic Riverways’ Facebook page (note the addition of a fourth public meeting, in Eminence):
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Eminence High School New Gym
505 South Sixth Street, Eminence, MO 65466
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Draft GMP Open House
Friday, January 17, 2014
Salem City Hall Auditorium
202 North Washington, Salem, MO 65560
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Draft GMP Open House
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Van Buren Youth & Community Center
Intersection of Business 60 & D Highway, Van Buren, MO 63965
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Draft GMP Open House
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Wilderness Hearing
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, 11715 Cragwold Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Draft GMP Open House
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Wilderness Hearing (od)
Original story published Nov. 8, 2013:
The National Park Service released a draft management plan on Friday for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Environmental advocates have been urging the Park Service to come up with a plan to protect the national park that includes the Current River and its major tributary, the Jacks Fork.
The Ozarks is a popular destination for more than a million visitors each year who partake in a wide range of activities including horseback riding, canoeing, camping and swimming.
Faye Walmsley of the National Park Service agrees that a new plan is needed.
“The old plan was released in 1984 and visitor use patterns have changed," Walmsley said. "And this new plan reflects that."
The lengthy draft plan includes detailed park maps, the present management plan and three proposed management alternatives.
“I encourage people to read it, become informed,” Walmsley said. “It is a big document; you may want to take in in little bites.”
According to the Park Service, the "Preferred Alternative" was developed from public comments and represents a balance among the wide range of interests people have in the park.
But some conservation groups do not believe the plan goes far enough to protect water quality -- and North America’s largest salamander, the endangered Ozark hellbender.
“More needs to be done to ensure that overuse doesn’t wreck the waterways that make the Ozark National Scenic Riverways so special,” said Collette Adkins Giese, an attorney and amphibian specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “In shaping how the millions of visitors enjoy the Riverways, the new plan must do more to protect water quality and the amazing Ozark hellbender.”
The public has two months to submit comments online or during upcoming public meetings.
A final draft of the plan is expected by the end of next summer.
Follow Sarah Skiöld-Hanlin on Twitter: @Skihan
Follow Veronique LaCapra on Twitter: @KWMUScience
