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Lincoln -
December 7, 2006. The four conservation organizations involved in
negotiating the Platte River Recovery Program welcomed the signing of the
final agreement that will put the program in place on January 1, 2007.
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today that he has signed
the Recovery Program. .
The National Wildlife Federation, Platte River Whooping Crane Trust,
Nebraska Wildlife Federation, and American Rivers represent conservation
groups on the Platte River Cooperative Agreement Governance Committee that
negotiated the Recovery Program.
"The signing of the Platte River Recovery Program is a landmark in the long
history of the Platte River watershed," said Larry Schweiger, president and
CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. "The Recovery Program represents
new hope for the wildlife and people who depend on one of America's great
rivers."
Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, executive director of the Platte River Whooping Crane
Trust and one of America's foremost authorities on crane biology, added that
"now is the time to move beyond discussions and negotiations, and to see
real habitat conservation on the land." The outline of the plan and details
of the Program took more than 12 years of difficult negotiations.
Duane Hovorka, Nebraska Wildlife Federation, cautioned that the signing of
the Recovery Program is not the end of the process. "Congress must still
approve and fund the Recovery Program, and Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska
must remain committed to the Program for it to succeed," Hovorka said.
Governor Wayne Owens of Colorado, Dave Heinemann of Nebraska, and David
Freudenthal of Wyoming signed the Recovery Program in recent weeks.
Hovorka added that the Nebraska Legislature will need to create a long-term
funding plan to implement the integrated water management plans now required
in the Platte and other Nebraska watersheds. He said the Platte River
Recovery Program is built on top of those water management plans and depends
on them to succeed.
Chad Smith, American Rivers field office director in Nebraska, said the plan
was a fair compromise between the many parties involved. "This is good
public policy -- many interests working together to chart a new course for
the Platte, a course built around the needs of people and of fish and
wildlife," Smith said.
The Platte River Recovery Program will provide $187 million over 13 years to
restore and protect critical habitat, better manage river flows, and carry
out a research and monitoring plan. The Program is designed to benefit four
federally protected species that rely on the Central and Lower Platte: the
Whooping crane, Interior least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon.
The Recovery Program would also provide benefits for the Sandhill Cranes
that gather every March along the Central Platte, providing one of nature's
most stunning wildlife spectacles. It would benefit the ducks, geese, and
other wildlife that also rely on the Platte River.
The Recovery Program will provide funds to protect and, where needed,
restore 10,000 acres of habitat along the Central Platte, between Lexington
and Grand Island, Nebraska. The Program will focus on restoring wide, open
sandy river channels, like those that caused early pioneers to describe the
Platte River as 'a mile wide and a foot deep'. It will also begin to restore
wetlands and wet meadows along the River.
The Program will eventually provide 130,000 to 150,000 acre feet of water
that will be used to boost river flows that will benefit fish and wildlife.
That amount is roughly 15 percent of current annual river flows at Grand
Island, and most of the water would come from re-timing existing river
flows.
Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and the federal government also agreed to allow
future growth in water use in the basin, but only in ways that do not
further harm the minimum flows needed for fish and wildlife. Under the
Program, Nebraska will need to find ways to offset the impact of new wells
drilled since 1997 that would impact minimum river flows.
The Platte River Recovery Program demonstrates how carefully balancing
complex interests can help to resolve wildlife and habitat issues, using the
Endangered Species Act to avoid an impending wildlife crisis.
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More information on the Platte River Recovery Program is available on the
Nebraska Wildlife Federation web site,
www.NebraskaWildlife.org.
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