“Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting,” goes the western saying and it comes to mind as the National Park Service – Ozark Riverways prepares to bring together park officials, a mediation company from Nevada and representatives of approximately thirty diverse park stakeholder groups in Rolla late this week to provide more input as NPS attempts to craft a draft General Management Plan acceptable to almost everyone.

“The workshop that is being held on February 24-25 was proposed as a means to build upon and refine the public input that was received during the public comment period in 2009,” said Dena Matteson, park spokeswoman. “It became clear from that input that there were several issues that were somewhat contentious and required additional input.”

During the GMP public comment period, 5117 comments were received, many of them from persons and groups advocating contradictory views. NPS has hired the Mary Orton Company of Henderson, NV to facilitate the meeting. Mary Orton specializes in facilitating and mediating such federal decisions.

Voices of the Ozarks, a citizen action group based in Eminence, is not happy with the stakeholders selected for the meetings as representative of commenter interests

“They have tried to stack the deck with environmentalists and protectionists who don’t want people to enjoy the outdoors,” said John Mark Brewer, president of Voices. “We have the point of view that man has always been a part of nature and we have the right to enjoy nature up close and personally, not as a calendar on a desk,” he said.

Voices, (and Brewer) have been invited to the meeting. After a number of persons and groups complained, he said, three more representatives were included from interests he perceives as friendly to his group. Brewer also said that five more environmental representatives were also added. He declined to name the additions on either side.

“A lot of people say the Park Service is giving the workshop to achieve compromise,” he said, “But we think this is about land control, and one group trying to control another’s ancestral lands.”

Matteson tells a different story. “The information gathered at the workshop will be used,
along with all the public comments received, to assist the NPS with refining the alternatives that will go back out for additional public review. No decisions will be made at the workshop, and the workshop findings will not be given more weight than public comments. The outcomes/discussions from the workshop will be made available for public review just like all other feedback that has been received,” she said.

Brewer is not convinced. “We have done things for many years that these people don’t like, like gigging, hunting or fishing, because it is unfair to wild game. They want to be the only group of people to enjoy the Current and Jacks Fork and they don’t want us to live down here.”

This list of participants has been furnished to Traveler by Brewer. We have requested a follow up after the meeting occurs, from both parties. Stay tuned.
Tom Bedell, park concessioner
Denny Bopp, Wonders of Wildlife
John Mark Brewer, Voice of the Ozarks
Bill Bryan, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State Parks
Carol Chrisco, Eminence Chamber of Commerce
Floyd Clark, Jacks Fork Watershed Committee
Trisha Crabill, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Mike Cullen, Camp Zoe
Wanda Cumins, Van Buren Chamber of Commerce
Carolyn Dyer, horse trail riders/operators
Susan Flader, Missouri Parks Association
Kally Higgins, non-motorized river use
R. Scott House or Michael Sutton, Cave Research Foundation
Brett Howell, horse trail riders/operators
Greg Iffrig, L-A-D Foundation, Leo A. Drey Pioneer Forest
Angel Kruzen, The Sierra Club
Jeff Lindsey, Van Buren School
Kathleen “Kat” Logan Smith, Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Steve Mahfood, The Nature Conservancy
Dave Martin, motorboat interests
Troy McAfee, hunting interests
Lynn McClure, National Parks and Conservation Association
Phillip Moss, scenic easement holder
Allison Schottenhaml, Missouri Show Me Backcountry Horsemen
Michael Smith, Missouri Department of Conservation
Stacy Smith, Eminence School
Robert Stout, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Water Quality
Jerry Sugerman, Friends of Ozark Riverways
Shane Van Steenis, park concessioners
Ray Walden, Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center
Doug Warren, Current River Smallmouth
Laura Watts, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Mark Twain National Forest.