December 8, 2000

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' announcement that it will proceed with plans initiated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a "spring rise" on the Missouri River.

"We feel that the Corps gave in to the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) without examining the alternatives and without regard for the people who farm and live along the Missouri River," said NCGA President Lee Klein of Battle Creek, NE.

Earlier this year, the FWS demanded that the Corps implement a spring rise (controlled flood) on the Missouri River to supposedly help protect three endangered species -- the pallid sturgeon, the least tern and the piping plover. In a biological draft opinion released Thursday, the Corps said it and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had reached "significant agreement" on the biological steps necessary to help those species.

The NCGA, which has opposed the FWS demand since it was first announced, said a spring rise has much more far-reaching, damaging effects. "A spring rise, or government-controlled flood, would have devastating effects on farmers along the Missouri river through flood loss, loss of competitive transportation and the inability to manage their own land," Klein said. "The NCGA will continue working on all fronts to ensure the movement of grain as well as the ability of farmers to get into their fields."