What is the Stewardship Initiative?: A short paper summarizing the key components of the Stewardship Initiative as initially developed by Rory Vose and Barry Drazkowski of the Department of Resource Analysis at Saint Mary's University.  Mr. Vose and Mr. Drazkowski coordinated its input and evolution beginning in the fall of 1997.  The Initiative represents coordination of subsequent upper basin stakeholders' input and ideas from the environmental, agriculture, citizen action, and government communities.  The Initiative presents input from a core development team represented by the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, American Rivers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the University of Minnesota.

UMBSN Comment on the Navigation Study
What’s Being Done and Who’s Doing It?
Upper Mississippi Basin Stakeholder Network director Barry Drazkowski submitted this comment to the recent public meeting of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Restructured Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) System Navigation Study in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on October 29, 2003. The statement was read into the record by UMBSN Coordinator Dick Hegle:
"This is an extraordinary amount of money to invest in the managing of the ecological restoration portion of the plan and the implementation challenge will be in providing a Federal oversight process to guide how funds are spent. " [Read the entire statement.]
Navigation Study Resources:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Navigation Study Website
McKnight Foundation River Politics
MARC 2000 (Midwest Area River Coalition) Website
Audubon Society Upper Mississippi River Campaign
The Nature Conservancy Upper Mississippi Priority Places Conservation Study
Sierra Club Mississippi River Home Page
Illinois Stewardship Alliance Website

October 29, 2003
Report on the USACE Public Meeting in LaCrosse Wisconsin on the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System Navigation Feasibility Study
by David C. Wilson, Upper Mississippi Basin Stakeholders Network
On the evening of Wednesday, the 29^th of October, 2003, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a public meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin to present the preliminary findings of their revised Navigation Feasibility Study. The study was revised from its original 1992 version in order to address the need for environmental protection and restoration in the ecosystems affected by the ongoing navigation channel maintenance project. [Read the entire LaCrosse meeting report.]

Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act Committee Hearing Testimony, September 23, 2003
According to Karrie Jackelen of the office of Congressman Ron Kind on Wednesday, 9/24, "Everything went well at the Senate hearing yesterday on HR 961. Our thanks to Holly Stoerker (UMRBA) for her testimony once again. The next step is getting it on the Senate schedule." The Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act, was heard before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, September 23. Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) presided. Rep. Kind and Holly Stoerker, of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, testified, as did Dr. Robert Hirsch, associate director, United States Geological Survey . Read testimony from the hearing.

Rep. Kind introduced the bill in February, 2003. House co-sponsors include: Rep. Jerry Costello [IL-12], Rep. Gil Gutknecht [MN-1], Rep. Mark Kennedy [MN-6], Rep. Dale Kildee [MI-5], Rep. Jim Leach [IA-2], and Rep. Jim Nussle [IA-1]. Senator Russ Feingold is the principal senate sponsor. The bill grew out of the "Upper Mississippi Basin Stewardship Initiative," conceived by Barry Drazkowski and Rory Vose at Saint Mary's University with the support of a core development team represented by the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, American Rivers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the University of Minnesota.
Senate Committee Contact Information; Members; Schedule
Live webcast link (see link just below "Salt Cedar and Miscellaneous Water Bills").

Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act
Active Bill in the 108th Congress in 2003
H.R. 961, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act
Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin introduced H.R. 961, Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act:, on February 27, 2003, "to promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes."
Sponsor: Rep Ron Kind, [WI-3] (introduced 2/27/2003) Cosponsors: 6
Latest Major Action: 3/25/2003 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 411 - 13 (Roll no. 85).
Co-Sponsors:
Rep Costello, Jerry F. - 2/27/2003 [IL-12] Rep Gutknecht, Gil - 2/27/2003 [MN-1]
Rep Kennedy, Mark R. - 2/27/2003 [MN-6] Rep Kildee, Dale E. - 2/27/2003 [MI-5]
Rep Leach, James A. - 2/27/2003 [IA-2] Rep Nussle, Jim - 3/20/2003 [IA-1]

Search the Thomas Library of Congress Legislative Information database for the most up-to-date status of the bill. Search: H.R. 961.

Or, contact Rep. Kind's offices directly:

Washington, D.C. Office
1406 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
PH: 202.225.5506
FX: 202.225.5739

La Crosse Office
205 Fifth Avenue South
Suite 227
La Crosse, WI 54601
PH: 608.782.2558
FX: 608.782.4588
Toll Free: 888-442-8040

Eau Claire Office
131 South Barstow Stret
Suite 301
Eau Claire, WI 54701
PH: 715.831.9214
FX: 715.831.9272

2002 Legislation (H.R. 3480 retired for H.R. 961)
Combing elements of H.R. 1800 and H.R. 4013 to help prevent impairment to resources of the River basin, Rep. Ron Kind introduced H.R. 3480, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act. The Water and Power Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee held hearings on H.R. 3480 on March 7, 2002. Read Congressman Kind's testimony. Follow H.R. 3480 via Congressman Kind's Mississippi River/Environment page, or use this Legislation Search Tool at the Library of Congress. Comments on H.R. 3480 from UMRBA, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. The bill passed in the House unanimously and was referred to the U.S. Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works on April 10, 2002.

According to the newsletter of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, the UMRBA Update, July 12, 2002, issue,
"UMRB Protection Act---On June 21, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee filed its report (S.Rpt. 107-169) on H.R. 3480, the Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act, which directs USGS to establish a sediment and nutrient monitoring and modeling program for the basin. The Senate Committee had approved the bill on April 25, with no changes to the legislation as passed by the House on April 9. This week, USGS requested that the Senate Committee leadership consider amending the funding provisions, before moving the bill to the Senate floor. In particular, USGS has suggested eliminating the cost-sharing provisions that require a 25 percent nonfederal share and describe how that share can be satisfied through in-kind services and existing state and local monitoring programs. Instead, USGS is proposing that the funding be funneled partially through the existing federal-state Co-Op program, which requires a 50-50 nonfederal match, and partially through the Hydrologic Networks and Analysis budget, which is fully federally funded."

2001 Legislation (H.R. 1800 retired for H.R. 3480)
H.R. 1800, Upper Mississippi River Basin Conservation Act of 2001:  Review the newly revised Upper Mississippi River Basin Conservation Act, as resubmitted by Congressman Kind on May 10, 2001.  H.R. 1800 formally establishes the Upper Mississippi Basin Stewardship Initiative as envisioned and developed at St. Mary's University.  Congressman Ron Kind's press release.

2000 Legislation (H.R. 4013 retired for H.R. 3480)
Summary of H.R. 4013 as introduced in 2000: Summary of the House Resolution 4013 with seven sections: Citizen Water Council, Interagency Working Group, Water Quality Monitoring Network, Computer Modeling and Outreach Programs, Financial and Technical Assistance under USDA Conservation Programs, Protection of Personal Data, and Authorization of Appropriations. You can also link to a copy of the bill in an Adobe PDF file to read in its long form or print it out.

Agriculture Committee Testimony on H.R. 4013: Transcripts of testimony taken on September 13, 2000 in Washington D.C. Speakers were Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht, Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind, Associate Director for Water USGS Survey Robert Hirch, and Chief of Programs from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Thomas A. Weber.

PowerPoint Presentation on the Stewardship Initiative: Here is a summary of the Stewardship Initiative in original Microsoft PowerPoint format. 

Lower Mississippi River Initiative: If there is an Upper Basin, there has to be an Lower Basin. Here is an summary about what is planned on the southern end of the Mississippi for Stewardship.