With significant input and leadership over 12 years from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Integrated Feasibility Report and Programmatic EIS for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) Navigation Feasibility Study was completed and forwarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December 2004, to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for signature and transmittal to Congress. Both the House and Senate are already considering the recommended plan in the pending Water Resources Development Act of 2005. The plan has become known as the UMRS Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program or NESP.
The plan calls for a dual-purpose, 50-year project authority for nine-foot channel commercial navigation and ecosystem restoration. The authority for the current 50-year project is solely for navigation. Costs over 50 years are projected at $2.4B for navigation improvements and $5.3B for ecosystem restoration.
The Service has a major Federal trust interest in the UMRS because of the presence of 11 National Wildlife Refuges; an international flyway for migratory birds; federally-listed endangered species; and interjurisdictional fish. Because of the Federal trust interests affected by the existing and future navigation project, the long-term impacts of navigation need to be mitigated over the 50-year life of the project. The proposed Corps ecosystem restoration program would adequately address these mitigation needs.
The Service supports NESP, which represents the next step in a long existing partnership approach to the ongoing, long-term impacts of operating a commercial navigation channel on the UMRS. NESP represents a win-win situation for both commercial navigation and ecosystem restoration proponents. The Service continues to work closely and productively with the Corps, five states, other federal agencies, and private groups toward implementation of the plan. The Service will have a major role in ecosystem restoration recommended in the plan due to the large Service presence on the UMRS, Service mandates, and cost share considerations.
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