Dear Friends of the Mississippi River,

Please announce to your listservs and members upcoming meetings on Draft Pool Plans.  The cooperative efforts of state and federal agencies have produced draft plans of desired conditions on each of the Mississippi River pools in the St. Paul District of the Corps of Engineers.

And now it’s time for public involvement.  Since these plans will become guidelines for future programs and projects for river management, it is vital that they reflect public values, priorities, and knowledge.  YOUR INPUT IS WANTED!

A total of seven meetings are planned between the Twin Cities and Prairie du Chien.  The lower five have been scheduled as follows:

September 6, Pools 9-11, Prairie du Chien, WI, Huckleberry’s
September 12, Pools 9-10, Lansing, IA, Community Center
September 13, Pools 7-9, Onlalaska, WI, US Fish Wildlife Service Visitors’ Center
September 18, Pools 5A-6, Winona, MN, Winona Middle School
September 20, Pools 4-5A, Wabasha, MN, Wabasha-Kellogg High School

All meetings are to run from 5:00 to 8:00 in open house format, with presentations starting at 5:30 and 7:00.

Meetings in Red Wing and the Twin Cities are to be scheduled in October for Pools 1-3.

Pool plans and maps will be posted in the latter part of August on the St. Paul District Corps of Engineers website: http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

Please feel free to announce these meetings in your newsletters and emails. And please come and provide suggestions and input.

Pool Plans have been developed by representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota DNR, the Wisconsin DNR, and the Iowa DNR.

Questions may be addressed to Randy Urich, Chair of the Fish and Wildlife Workgroup of the River Resources Forum (507-895-6341), or to Robin Grawe, Mississippi Valley Director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission (507-454-2066).