Columbia FRO Staff, Assistant Secretary Woodley, Program Director Karen Durham-Aueilera and District Commanders form Omaha and Kansas City watch a stern trawling demonstration in Jefferson City, Missouri. - FWS photo

Columbia FRO welcomed a visit from Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)- John Paul Woodley, Jr., his aide, Kate McGlynn, Northwest District (NWD) Programs Director-Karen Durham-Aueilera, and Deputy Director-Larry Cieslik, Kansas City District Commander-COL Michael Rossi, Omaha District Commander-COL David Press and Public Affairs Officer (NWD)-Paul Johnston.

 The Assistant Secretary had a meeting scheduled with Missouri Governor Matt Blunt on October 19 as part of a Missouri River Basin tour.

Biologists with Columbia FRO met with Woodley and his entourage for a brief tour of the river in the vicinity of Jefferson City.  The dignitaries participated in electrofishing, trawling and entanglement gear demonstrations. 

Electrofishing produced hundreds of Asian carp leaping startled into the air and a platform to discuss the Asian Carp Plan recently released for public comment.  The trawling demonstration produced several species of chubs and impressed the importance of developing new and better techniques to monitor habitat modifications being done by the Corps. 

The entanglement gear collected fish that enabled station biologists to discuss the concerns of conserving sturgeon and sport fish found in the river and the challenges faced in the recovery of the endangered pallid sturgeon.