By Ken Midkiff

Thousands of folks from St. Louis take float trips on the Current and Jacks Fork rivers – designated in 1964 by the US Congress as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (NSR).  Congress also gave a mandate to the Department of the Interior to “preserve and protect” the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.  The Ozark National Scenic Riverways became a national park, administered by the National Park Service (NPS).  This was done with the approval of the Missouri General Assembly and Governor.

Unfortunately, the NPS has, over the years between 1964 and now – 45 years later – let things slip a bit and has shown itself to be a poor steward of what Governor Nixon has referred to as the “prime jewels of the Ozarks”.

Consider:

• There are miles and miles of illegal Off-Road Vehicle trails.  The lands adjacent to the Jacks Fork and Current are part of the ONSR and motorized access to these lands is supposed to be restricted to existing roads, but the NPS has failed enforce such restrictions and the ONSR lands are quite literally riddled with such illegal ORV trails.
• There are horsepower limits on boats – but due to local opposition, allegedly assisted by a US Congressperson, large, loud, and fast boats are common on both te Jacks Fork and the Current.  Both rivers are narrow, and low-impact recreationists – canoeists, tubers, rafters and kayakers -  are in constant danger of being run over or swamped.
• The Jacks Fork is on the “impaired” waterbody list.  At times, it is so filled with bacteria that it is unhealthy to come in contact with the water.  Those times that it is unhealthy coincide with large – thousands and thousands of horses – horse rides.  The horse ride trails cross the Jacks Fork many times, and horse dung is the primary source of contamination.
• Much of the lands along the rivers was acquired by the NPS to create the national park, but some of the lands are still in private ownership and the NPS has easements.  The NPS can grant what is known as “scenic easements” on public and private lands.  Unfortunately, those “scenic easements” have led to much abuse allowing landowners to clear vegetation (and any wildlife that might depend on such trees and brush) and build on these lands.  Some unscrupulous landowners have then sold what they have constructed and the hills along the ONSR have become little more than suburbs.
• Due to an “anything goes” attitude, the ONSR and in particular the Current River has a reputation for lewd, drunken, nude and rude behaviors.  While the NPS has now taken steps to curtail such behavior, it is too little, too late.  Prevention of such rowdiness, not reaction to it, would have been much more effective, and would have ensured that family float trips would have continued to be enjoyable affairs, rather than miserable voyages accompanied by those who view the OSNR as a place to let loose.

While some of these things should never have been allowed, it is not too late to turn things back to those peaceful days of 1964.  The NPS has developed a new and preliminary General Management Plan.  Alternative A is a low-impact alternative and much preferable to the others, although there is no mention of horses.  Alternative C is particularly objectionable, because it would allow more horses, more motors, more accesses, more roads and trails, and more development.   Alternative C seems to fly in the face of the federal mandate to “protect and preserve”.

To obtain a copy of the General Management Plan and to comment on it, write to the Superintendent, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, PO Box 490, Van Buren, MO  63965  or online here. Whether you comment by mail or online, these are due by July 31.c

Ken Midkiff of Columbia, Mo., is conservation chair of the Osage Group Sierra Club.