Bush Administration Yanks Missouri River Scientists off Project

WASHINGTON (AP) - The long-running dispute over management of the nation's longest river took another twist when the Bush administration yanked government scientists off a project to study the waterway's ecosystem.

The team had been on the job for years and was within weeks of producing what could have been its final report. Conservation groups criticized last week's unreported decision to remove the scientists, which they said was to protect business interests at the expense of the Endangered Species Act.

The move may block changes to the Missouri River's flow, because the scientists had ordered the switch. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has resisted changing river operations but is under a December deadline to come up with a new plan that meets requirements of the Endangered Species Act.

A different team of scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will say whether the corps can avoid major changes - such as a previously ordered switch to a more natural spring rise and low summer flow - and remain in compliance with the act.

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA1H3Y2OMD.html

Chaos rules!!!

And there's nothing we won't do - no reservoir left undrained, no species left unextirpated, no sport fishery not wiped out - to preserve the DOZENS of barges that transport at least several thousand tons of grain down the Missouri River's lower 20% each year - if the water's high enough, of course.

this article who the real culprits are. I'm a native of Missouri and a daughter of parents who always detested the part of the Army Corps. of Engineers that dealt with building all of the dams on Missouri rivers and rivers that converged there.

It sounds as if things have not changed, but whoever wrote the article is not making things very clear at all.

Is the Bush administration giving the Army Corps. of Engineers full reign here?