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Environmental groups push for protection of Missouri's Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Horseback riding is a popular activity in the Ozarks, but their waste has been linked to high E. coli levels in the Jacks Fork, the main tributary of the Current River.
Mark Morgan, University of Missouri
Horseback riding is a popular activity in the Ozarks, but their waste has been linked to high E. coli levels in the Jacks Fork, the main tributary of the Current River.

A statewide coalition of environmental groups and advocates has submitted five thousand signed petitions to the National Park Service, urging the agency to do more to protect the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri. As St. Louis Public Radio's Véronique LaCapra reports, the coalition is pushing for more enforcement and a stronger management plan for the Current and Jacks Fork rivers.

The coalition says overdevelopment, overuse, and excessive vehicle traffic are taking their toll on the Ozark's Current River system. Speaking at a press conference, the director of the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club, John Hickey, said his group would like the National Park Service to block access to illegal roads, address E. coli contamination by restricting horseback riding…“… and number three, enforce the scenic easements in the park so that people aren't building buildings and cabins right on the river in the park.”

The National Park Service is expected to release a new draft management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways by the spring of 2012.

 

Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug while writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio pieces at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.