Missouri National Recreational River: A new approach to federal river management

Federal water resource programs of the mid-twentieth century have reshaped the once free-flowing Missouri River into a series of dams, reservoirs and narrow shipping channels so that only a few segments of the mighty river have retained their natural character. President Jimmy Carter signed the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, which protected one of these remaining natural segments through a recreational-river designation. Efforts to designate the "reach," extending for 59 miles along the Nebraska-South Dakota border, were relatively brief and came from a union of unlikely bedfellows. One side sought to limit the river's natural tendencies with federally-funded bank stabilization, while the other sought to preserve its natural values. Ironically, both came to believe that they could achieve their dissimilar goals through a recreational-river designation.; During the second half of the twentieth-century, the value of river conservation became more prominent in the American consciousness, which led to the enactment of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Federal protective legislation occurred primarily on government owned land, because most private landowners felt that such actions would compromise their freedoms. But in this case, growing environmental awareness created the conditions for compromise on the Missouri River.; The drive for federal designation began in 1976, when a Corps of Engineers report recommended recreational-river status for the reach. Landowners and conservationists came together and took this recommendation to the congressional delegates of Nebraska and South Dakota, who in turn introduced legislation designating the reach in 1978. With avid support from this diverse coalition, a race to enact legislation ensued. The result was an unprecedented arrangement that required the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior to manage the river in a way that maintained these varied interests. This thesis examines the conditions that made recreational-river status plausible, the efforts put forth in the region and in Washington, D.C. to designate the Missouri National Recreational River, as well as the complicated task of establishing this unique area under federal river management.