BATON ROUGE, La. —
One of the best initiatives of the last year was not strictly governmental, but encompassed public and private sectors involved in the economic and environmental development of the Mississippi River watershed.
Called “The Big River Works,” the initiative of the America’s Wetland Foundation aims to provoke the kind of wide-ranging discussions that are appropriate for the giant of the river that is vital to America and to Louisiana, where it meets the sea.
“The river remains the lifeblood of the Midwest but its global connections to agriculture, manufacturing, energy and other sectors make it the nation’s main artery of commerce,” wrote R. King Milling, a New Orleans civic leader, in The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.
In meetings up and down the river last year, a barge load of experts and interest group representatives talked about the long-term issues facing the river. ...
Meetings in St. Louis and Memphis last year, and now Minneapolis at the very head of the river, will be followed by a Chicago meeting in April. In every case, the agenda will promote cooperation among the myriad communities, economic interests and civic groups with profound interests at stake in the river’s future.
As we know all too well in Louisiana, and Milling noted for upriver readers, the river’s history “is riddled with decisions that have long-lasting consequences. In a recurring example, sediment that is dredged or trapped by structures or levees along the river’s main channels to allow for shipping and flood control, starves lower river wetlands of their life source. ...
The Big River initiative is pushing recognition of the vast economic importance of the river, including the vast bulk of the nation’s agricultural exports. Those are endangered lately by low river levels, and consequent bickering among the states and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the maintenance of the river.
But the environmental impacts of the river are substantial, as more than 40 percent of the country’s migratory birds and 25 percent of North American fish species depend on the Mississippi River system. Altogether, the river and its tributaries touch 31 states and the lives of more than 60 percent of Americans, the Wetlands Foundation reported.
We look forward to lessons learned and initiatives going forward, but the reality is that as big as the river’s problems are, more than just a mandate from some federal Pooh-Bah will be required to make changes for the better. ...
Not to mention foresight about those unintended consequences.
Online:
http://www.theadvocate.com
Editorials
‘The Big River Works’ meetings provokes needed discussions
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