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Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee to Meet in Omaha

Published July 31, 2017
Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee logo

Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee logo

OMAHA, Neb. - The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) will hold its 38th meeting here Aug. 8-10, 2017. The meeting will be at the DoubleTree by Hilton Omaha Downtown, 1616 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68102, beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, and concluding at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10. The draft MRRIC meeting agenda can be found online at www.mrric.org.

The Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) reached a major milestone in December 2016 with the publication of a draft Missouri River Recovery Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) analyzing program options for the future. At the August meeting, MRRIC members will learn about themes of public comments on the DEIS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ current thinking about the proposed action for the biological assessment, the next step in the process following the DEIS.

The committee agreed in May on steps for its future involvement in the federal agencies’ implementation of the new adaptive management strategy. The AM strategy will allow the Corps to incorporate new information learned about the three threatened and endangered species – the interior least tern, piping plover, and pallid sturgeon – into actions taken to support them. The committee will discuss membership in proposed new adaptive management work groups at the August meeting.

“MRRIC is moving forward on the transition to an adaptive management strategy and setting up our work groups to implement that strategy. This is a significant step, and the work our members are doing now will establish the foundation for working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moving forward,” said MRRIC Chair Gail Bingham.

The meetings are open to members of the public who will have an opportunity during each daily session to address the committee and the lead federal agencies – USACE and USFWS.

MRRIC is a 70-member committee comprised of 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. The committee, established in the fall of 2008, meets quarterly at various locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. The next quarterly MRRIC meeting will be held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2, 2017, at the Hilton Kansas City Airport in Kansas City, Missouri.

For additional information regarding the MRRIC, please contact Ms. Gail Bingham, committee chair, by e-mail at mrric@usace.army.mil. Information about the Missouri River recovery efforts is available online at www.MRRIC.org and www.MoRiverRecovery.org.

Contact
Omaha District Public Affairs
402-995-2417

Release no. 17-072