Your Voice Matters: Help Protect the Eleven Point River
Act today by offering your comments to protect the Eleven Point Scenic River for the Next Fifty Years.
The U.S. Forest Service is updating its Comprehensive River Management Plan for all 44.4 Missouri miles of the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River, adapting the original 1972 plan to changing times. Please join the Missouri Sierra Club in asking for stronger protections for this incredible waterway.
About the Plan: The Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) will address changes over the years and will bring the original 1972 plan up-to-date. The Eleven Point River was among the first rivers protected under the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSRA) which protects all designated rivers free-flowing and high water quality values. In addition, the Eleven Point was designated to protect its Outstandingly Remarkable Values (ORVs), which are: Ecology, Geology, Recreation, Scenery, Fisheries/Aquatics, and Pre-European Contact American History.
Updating the CRMP involves public engagement to ensure the Outstandingly Remarkable Values of the River are protected for future generations. Many good improvements were made in the current draft, including considering the impacts of climate change; expanding the “Cultural Resources” and doing much more to acknowledge Indigenous history and input; expanding the ORV of wildlife into the broader “ecology” umbrella; emphasizing that the Recreation ORV includes the value of solitude, unspoiled scenery and clean water; and considering types and capacity issues in the Recreation ORV management so that resource protection is maintained. However, we’re calling on you to help raise key issues to the U.S. Forest Service to strengthen the plan and ultimately add greater protections to the Eleven Point Scenic River.
The Comprehensive River Management Plan Does Not Address Several Key Concerns
Proposed Comments: The following comments have been proposed by the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club to the U.S. Forest Service. If you agree that these elements would strengthen the protection of the Eleven Point Wild and Scenic River, we encourage you to voice these same concerns to the U.S. Forest Service as well as any other concerns you may have.
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The updated plan should include a commitment to not raise the 25 horsepower limit for boats so as to protect natural features from petroleum pollutants and noise pollution, and in return protect families participating in passive recreation.
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The plan should remove lands within the Scenic River corridor from hard rock mining and should recommend that all public lands within the Eleven Point watershed be excluded from hard rock mining to protect the outstanding water quality.
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The plan should include a definitive commitment to keep horse trails away from the river.
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The plan should plan a full review of designated and non-designated trails in the Scenic River boundaries. Managers need a plan to close all unauthorized trails, and to share that plan with the public.
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The plan needs to identify and address high levels of E. coli and other water pollution sources so as to protect both water quality and the families who enjoy it. Addressing water quality concerns is also crucial for protecting key wildlife, such as the endangered Ozark hellbender.
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The U.S. Forest Service should also prioritize the monitoring of the headwaters of the Eleven Point near Willow Springs. It is important to consider what is taking place upstream and the water pollution impacts it has to the river and its users.
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Tell the U.S. Forest Service to protect the Eleven Point Scenic River from mining and impacts to water quality and the Outstandingly Remarkable Values. Visit https://bit.ly/3sHSUEX to learn more.
Contact Marisa Frazier to get involved: marisa.frazier@sierraclub.org
Submit Your Comments for a Stronger Plan to the U.S. Forest Service by March 25, 2022.
Electronic comments can be submitted to sm.fs.mtnf_rec@usda.gov or mailed to the Eleven Point Ranger District Office, Attn: Ed Sherman, #66 Confederate Ridge Road, Doniphan, MO, 63935.