OMAHA, Neb. - The Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee will hold its 41st meeting May 22-24, 2018. The meeting will be at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, 1201 N. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104, beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 22, and concluding at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24. The draft MRRIC meeting agenda can be found online at
www.MRRIC.org.
The committee will continue its work in developing a shared understanding of the implementation of the Missouri River Recovery Management Plan and will consider recommendations to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the draft Missouri River Recovery Program’s five-year strategic plan.
Noting that USACE is moving toward a final record of decision on the management plan later in 2018, MRRIC Chair Gail Bingham congratulated the federal agencies and MRRIC members for their efforts. “Years of thoughtful work have gone into building a strong scientific foundation for this program and for the adaptive management approach we are implementing for the first time this year,” Bingham said.
The committee also will review and consider approval of a document describing the expertise and procedures for the future work of its Independent Scientific Advisory Panel which is a joint effort with USACE and USFWS.
MRRIC will also have an opportunity to ask questions about the Final Biological Opinion released by the USFWS that will guide USACE’s actions under the Management Plan. The biological opinion was released in April.
Most plenary sessions of this meeting 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. There will be two executive sessions that are closed to the public: the first is Wednesday, May 23, 10:15-11:45 a.m., and the second is Thursday, May 24, 9:15 a.m.-10:15 a.m.
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 regularly at various locations throughout the Missouri River Basin. The next MRRIC meeting will be held Nov. 27-29, 2018, 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.