By Jo Schaper

“Without bloodshed,” was one person’s answer to what he wanted to get out of the recent workshop of varied stakeholders to discuss the proposed alternatives in the new Ozark National Scenic Riverways General Management Plan.

That’s according to Doug Warren, Reynolds County Commissioner, who attended as a representative of the Current River Smallmouth Association. Despite fears of various participants who expected a replay of past battles between urban environmentalists and the folks who live in river communities, the discussion turned out to be a good exchange of views, several participants said.

“It was pretty peaceful, actually, and more down the middle of the road when things were all over. It was well organized, and we found more common ground than I expected,” said Warren.

Some 40 stakeholder representatives including power boaters and canoeists, hikers and horsemen, city dwellers and locals with views spanning the entire political, social and economic spectrum were invited to the stakeholders meeting by the National Park Service at the Havener Center in Rolla Feb. 24 and 25.

The Mary Orton Company, Henderson, Nev, provided moderators and facilitators for the small group sessions the first day, and the group discussion held the second.

“On the first day of the workshop, participants were divided into four working groups to discuss two topics: motorboat use and access to the river. Each group had a professional facilitator. These scenarios [were] shared with the entire group on the second day in one large group,” said Park spokesperson Dena Matteson.

“Ms. Orton helped the group consider many of the scenarios and discuss how to eliminate the drawbacks while still retaining many of the benefits associated with the scenario. NPS staff did not participate in any of the discussions, except to answer questions or clarify information, and were merely observers of the workshop activities,” she added.

Superintendent Detring attended and commented later, “”We were extremely pleased with the level of interaction in the group and the amount of enthusiasm shown by everyone. In addition to the comments collected last summer in the open house meetings the thoughts, comments and scenarios presented by the group at this workshop will be very helpful in developing the draft General Management Plan.”

Traveler contacted a representative sample of attendees and asked a few questions of each to gauge the tone of the meeting and see what progress was perceived to have been made by placing people of such diverse views in close proximity. We thank everyone who took the time to talk with us.

Overview
Kally Higgins of the Ozark Riverways Foundation now lives in Kirkwood, but her family has been in Van Buren “since the beginning.”

“Almost everyone there were reasonable people looking for compromise without compromising the resource,” she said. “Some people came into the meeting with preconceived ideas, but left more relaxed and open minded. We realized that everyone loves the river, and even though we might see the details differently, we’re all stewards of the river, and our job is to make sure that the Park Service finds the balance so we can all enjoy it.”

“The people from the city get it, and so does my 80-year old aunt in Van Buren. Everyone wants the resource protected so we all can enjoy it.”
Over and over, regardless of their special interest or viewpoint, most interviewees more or less echoed Higgins’ view.

“One problem that became apparent was that those speaking for local interests tended to be in a state of denial that the problems so obvious to those ofus who have been visiting the Riverways for the past 30 years or so even exist, let alone need to be fixed,” said Michael Sutton of Cave Research Foundation.

“ I do think some progress was made in countering this, and at least some local representatives were prepared to acknowledge that there may indeed be some real problems. On the other side, I have a much better feel for how locals actually use the Riverways and for what their concerns are. On balance [the meeting was] probably worthwhile — a lukewarm endorsement, to be sure.”

Session 1 – Motor boats, horsepower and canoes
Motor boat horsepower versus the desires of canoeists for a wilderness experience is one of the more contentious items which must be ironed out in the new GMP. Numerous people said the meeting dispelled some myths (that canoeists are against power boats per se) and provoked a few novel solutions for how to share the river.

David Martin is general manager for Ernie’s Sales and Service, Ellington, proposed that the current 25 hp limit areas (above Alley Spring on the Jacks Fork and above Round Spring on the Current River) be made canoes only from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and motors be allowed the rest of the year. “I think the horsepower regulations put into effect in 1984 have worked pretty well. But the first day of gigging season — that’s almost like Christmas down here, and it’s an Ozark tradition. But the 40 horsepower limit –if they were to lower that, family boating would be over.

“There isn’t a stretch of river in the state where it is canoes only. It would be a great marketing point for the upper river, and would leave the lower river for power boats year round.”

Not everyone agrees with Martin.

“The meeting was very good, with lots of diverse people. I think everyone learned a lot about how locals use the river,” said Shane Van Steenis of Harvey’s Canoe Rental. “I’ve got a motorboat myself, and I’m against the proposed horsepower limits. I rented a canoe one day to a fellow who brought his family down, and he asked about the motorboats. Well, when he came back in, he had seen how the local people use the river for fishing, or a family barbecue. “I didn’t realize that,” he told me.”

“A little common sense goes a long way when anybody uses the river,” he said. “Motors above Alley or Round Spring are a non-issue, because sometimes it gets so low you can’t even run it in a canoe. But a motorboat is a substantial investment, and local people want to be able to use it when they can.”

John Mark Brewer, president of Voice of the Ozarks, would take the powerboat issue a step further. “The 40 horsepower limit caused people to get jet boats,” he said. A more realistic thing would be to have 65-80 horsepower boats in that zone. It would allow for fewer boats and more people traveling upriver in them. I hope the environmental people realize after this meeting that picking an arbitrary size is not the answer, now that they’ve gotten some more detailed information from motor boat people.”

River Access
Getting to the river, and the effect that access has on the river bank area (called the “riparian corridor”) raised special interest from five groups: the L-A-D Foundation, Voice of the Ozarks, canoe rentals, Friends of Ozark Riverways, a conservationist group based in St. Louis and trail rides.

“I’m glad Park Service called the meeting,” said Greg Iffrig, resource manager for L-A-D, which manages riverfront property and many units adjoining Riverways. “It was a good conversation, and some good ideas came forward. The park needs some help—quite a few park policies from elsewhere have not been applied here.”

“There always has been a feeling that motorized access has flourished here beyond anyone’s vision. Using aerial photos, you can see routes that have been established in the last 40 years. In 134 miles of park, there are over 130 roads. That’s kind of shocking, and that was not the intention for the park. Park Service needs to look at that and reduce the number. We’re concerned what all those roads have done to the riparian corridor, and to the experience of Riverways as a river park—to take back the river experience.”

Brewer disagrees. “Some of the people don’t like trucks and campers on the gravel bars. Reed [Detring] said he would personally drive anyone to a gravesite or an old homestead, but people need to have ready access to those places, especially the elderly, handicapped and very young who can’t hike. Park Service says they want to preserve the local culture. Well, driving to the river is part of the local culture, and they want to critique it instead.”

Matt Bedell of The Landing in Van Buren is worried about one access in particular: Wehmeyer’s Landing, where he puts in a lot of canoes for the float down the Current. “There’s a lot of crowding at Wehmeyer’s – they need a boat ramp there to prevent congestion. There are about six spots…we’re putting in a lot of people there, and if someone has their car or truck and trailer parked wrong, sometimes we can’t get the bus in. We pay 4% of our float revenue for access, and we use that access heavily 8-10 days of the year. We’re fine with sharing the river, but we want to use it, too.”

According to Jerry Sugerman, Friends of the Ozark Riverways (FOR) was founded in part because, “I became alarmed in 2006 when I floated Round Spring to Two Rivers and found ATV tracks and horse divots on every gravel bar. I even saw an oil slick where someone had driven a truck into the river. We need to repair the riparian corridor to natural conditions,” he said.

Sugerman argues that the park has to be treated as any other park under the 1916 Organic (founding) Act for NPS, not as a recreational river, according to research he has done. “User conflicts have been a distraction and caused neglect of the resource –we are looking at horse access and vehicular access as detrimental to the riparian corridor. There can be more horse trails – not more along the riverbank. That, and roads which run along the river are our principal concern.”

“In order to get NPS to do what it is supposed to, our group has set out to document the change and the damage,” he said. “That’s our first goal.”
“I don’t think we adequately discussed issues with horses the way the questions were worded at the meeting,” said Carolyn Dyer of Cross-Country Trail Ride. “Most of the trails we use in our business aren’t in the park. Most people don’t realize that. There are 350-400 miles of trail in the Jack’s Fork and lower Current areas and only about 5% of that is really severely damaged. They overdramatize by showing those places over and over.”

“I don’t have a problem with the way things are. I know the park is concerned with social trails – this is a concern with erosion if you take a horse some places and others follow,” she said.

“I hope we told some people some things they didn’t know, like most of the trails are on private land, or places that aren’t the park. Some people who are concerned about the Riverways are uninformed about what the boundaries actually are. But I don’t think river access for horse or vehicle use was really adequately addressed. The park isn’t against horses, they permit them If there were adequate law enforcement, none of us, motorboat people, horse people, canoe people, would be having this discussion.”

Other issues which recurred across our interviews, though not expressly the subject of the meeting were:

• A general agreement from most that a more visible law enforcement presence in the park and on the river (most wanted uniformed NPS rangers to educate visitors about park rules, deal leniently with minor infractions but severely with major ones (up to banning from the park for up to a year for serious offenses –suggestion courtesy of Tom Bedell of The Landing);
• More boater education for both canoeists and power boaters;
• More education and expectation of common courtesy from and between park visitors;
• The general assumption that 90% of park problems come from less than 5% of the visitors, and most everyone else could share the river amicably under some new GMP;
• The overwhelming opinion that as the draft GMP takes shape the National Park Service has its work cut out for it to draft something acceptable to all.

The Mary Orton Company is finalizing a 78-page meeting report. When complete, this document will be posted at www.parkplanning.nps.gov beside the 5117 other public comments. It will not be used in lieu of them, according to NPS spokesman Matteson.

The park plans further research on select natural resources and park usage before it proposes a preferred alternative in a Draft General Management Plan/Wilderness Study/Environmental Impact Statement. The research may extend through 2011.

Once the draft is issued, it, too, must go for public review and comment before the final alternative is selected by the Midwest Regional Director. That decision is not expected before 2012 at the earliest.