The Missouri River Association of States and Tribes is meeting this week in Pierre, with an agenda full of issues that have strong ties to South Dakota and our relationship with that mighty waterway.
The group, formed in 2006 when several states and tribes combined their river efforts, is charged with helping determine the direction that should be taken when it comes to addressing river problems. The group's goal is "to protect and enhance the future of the Missouri River basin by combining natural resources management, water resources, fish and wildlife and consideration of the impacts to the economic, historical, cultural and social resources," according to a 2006 statement by Gov. Mike Rounds.
It meets regularly and tackles the river's top issues.
This week, for instance, the group is discussing potential problems that range from the overabundance of salt cedar trees along the river's route to climate change. Degradation -- the process of the river bed dropping due to man-made influences -- also is an issue for MoRAST.
Interestingly, sedimentation is not on the group's December agenda. We do not fault MoRAST for not discussing sedimentation at each and every meeting, but we stress that of all of the river's potential problems, sedimentation may be the most serious. It's a subject that should be fully researched, discussed and taken very seriously, by the members of MoRAST and the public in general.
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Nevertheless, we appreciate what MoRAST already has accomplished and what it hopes to do in the future.
Now, the people of South Dakota need to get behind the group, know its agenda and follow its efforts.
As residents in the various Missouri River states for years have argued what should be done with the river, MoRAST has become a guiding beacon for the river's most pressing issues.
We appreciate the group's efforts, and wish its members well as they continue to help chart the river's future.
