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作者：Stephen Ambrose 02.16.00
這25年以來，密蘇里河 (Missouri River) 就像是我家庭的一員。無論是在愛德荷州的Lolo Trail健行，在蒙大拿邊界的Lemhi Pass露營，或是在暴風雨中划著獨木舟，密蘇里河都藉由多種方式，拉近了我和妻子、小孩間的距離。
充滿力量的密蘇里河
不幸的是，密蘇里河的絕大部分，就像美國其他受到珍惜且充滿故事的11,000哩長的河流一樣，遭到美國軍方工兵單位的過度整治。現在，可能會牽連到其它河道的重大威脅，正隱隱逼近這一條充滿力量的河流。再過不久，工兵處 (U.S
Army Corps of Engineers)的主事者，將對達科塔(Dakotas)到聖路易(St. Louis)間河段的整治計畫，提出重大決定。最近種種跡象顯示，該單位遠在波特蘭的區域負責人，並不瞭解人們對此河段的各種需求，包括農業、遊船業者、到河流來搭船、釣魚的人們，以及河流脆弱的生態系統。
Lewis與Clark在西岸之旅中，在1804年到達密蘇里河。這條河流不但多變、並且充滿生機，有著岩岸、充滿落葉殘枝的側河道，以及數千個沙洲與小島。它充滿了生命力。
然而，在這兩個世紀的大半時間中(審譯者註)，政府的工程單位將原本泥濘、漫流的密蘇里河，轉變成行船的河道，及一連串流速緩慢的水池。Lewis與Clark所認識的河流，大抵已告消失。為了航行與防洪，工兵處幾乎將河流中的小島、沙洲、以及側河道清除殆盡。
若說目前在密蘇里河有一百多種原生物種的生存受到威脅，一點都不讓人驚訝。這些物種中包括了許多Lewis在他的探險中，首次描述到的物種。
密蘇里河岸的灰熊。
照片由American Rivers提供。
我們已經付出太多的代價了。但是，我們得到的回報並不多。工兵處承諾的航運盛況從來沒有實現。他們曾預測密蘇里河航運的運貨量可達到每年1200萬噸，但結果從未超過330萬噸，目前的運貨量甚至僅有每年100萬噸，其中大部分為沙子與碎石。這遠不及密西西比河超過1億噸的運貨量。
很明顯地，我們已經無法恢復Lewis 與Clark所認識的那條河流了。密蘇里河的沿岸地區已經出現了許多大城市，這些城市得受防洪措施的保護。但是，在2004年時，也就是Lewis與Clark "發現之旅" 兩百週年紀念時，我們可以重建一條他們所認得的河流。
這個月，工兵處正在擬定東蒙大拿與達科塔地區密蘇里河流域六個水庫的新管理計劃。時至今日，這些水壩的營運仍只以少數航運的利益為考量，而漠視了此河段的休閒遊憩價值與溪流野生動物的生存。
工兵處應該在春天放出更多的水流，以重建沙灘，以及讓魚類產卵；而在夏天放出較少的水，以利人們的休閒活動與溪流生物的生存。在超過80%的農業相關航運已遷走的今日，殘存的少許航運，仍可在春天及秋天時使用。據工兵處的研究，密蘇里河沿岸洪氾平原上的農人，仍需要引河水灌溉農田。秋天時，當大量農產品需運往紐奧良出口之際，增加密蘇里河的水流與航運，尚可疏緩密西西比河繁忙的航運。
急切的海狸 [審譯者註]
照片由American Rivers提供
軍方的工程師長久以來一直忽視休閒娛樂、溪流野生生物，以及沿岸居民的需求。如果我們現在開始行動，到2004年時，當能沿著密蘇里河建立一連串的自然地帶，讓人們盡情享受，並且讓野生生物繁衍興盛。
重建密蘇里河的訴求，獲得沿岸人民的廣大支持。上個月，愛荷華州六個保育團體促請副總統高爾改進水壩的管理方式。多位參議員（Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)、Max Baucus (D-Mont.)、Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)、Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)，以及Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)） ，對此提出結論，認為 "航運季分離" 是最好的解決方案。
軍方與柯林頓政府，現正面臨一個重大考驗。若是他們允諾維持密蘇里河的平衡使用，以及保護野生生物，就必須駁回工兵處的提案及改善水壩的管理方法。目前水壩的設計僅顧及船運的利益，這極可能導致幾種物種的消失，也忽略了經濟上的現實面 - 目前密蘇里河上休閒娛樂活動所帶來的利潤，是船運利潤的10倍以上。
即將到臨的2004年Lewis與Clark兩百週年慶，是重建Lewis與Clark所旅行之密蘇里河的大好機會。我們絕對不能讓工兵處在21世紀時繼續浪費這條河流的生命。
歷史學家Stephen Ambrose是Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West的作者。他是American Rivers理事會的成員。近來，他提出1百25萬美元的版稅收入，支持American Rivers重建密蘇里河的活動。
原文與圖片詳見：http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho021600.stm
版權歸屬Earth Day Network，環境信託協會 (黃曉菊 譯，吳海音審校) |
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by Stephen Ambrose
02.16.00
For more than 25 years, the Missouri River has been like a member of my family. Whether we were backpacking the Lolo Trail in Idaho, camping at Lemhi Pass on the Montana border, or canoeing through one of many thunderstorms, the Missouri River has brought my wife,
children, and me together in more ways than I can measure.
The mighity Missouri
Unfortunately, large parts of the Missouri, like some 11,000 miles of America's most cherished and storied rivers, have been overly tamed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And now a further threat looms over the "Mighty Mo'," one that will carry implications for other waterways, as well. Soon the leaders of the Corps will make a monumental decision about how they manage the flow of water through the river's lower section, from the Dakotas to St. Louis. Recent signs are that their regional staff, operating from afar in Portland, Ore., has badly misjudged the competing needs of agribusiness, barge operators, the people who visit the river for boating and fishing, and the river's battered ecosystems.
When Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri in 1804 on their way to the West Coast, the river was varied and dynamic, with caving banks, snag-filled side channels, and thousands of sand bars and islands. It teemed with life.
For the better part of two centuries, however, the government's engineers have transformed much of the muddy, free-flowing Missouri into little more than a barge canal and a series of slackwater reservoirs. The river Lewis and Clark knew is mostly lost. In pursuit of navigation and flood control, the Corps destroyed nearly all of the river's islands, sand bars, and side channels.
It is not surprising that more than 100 species native to the Missouri are in trouble, including many of the species that Lewis first described in his journals.
Grizzly bears on the banks of the Missouri. Photo courtesy of American Rivers
We have paid a tremendous price. But, what did we get in return? Not much. The barges the Corps said would come have never materialized. Once forecast to carry 12 million tons of cargo a year, Missouri River barges have never carried more than 3.3 million tons and now carry only 1 million tons annually, mostly sand and gravel. In contrast, barges on the Mississippi River carry more than 100 million tons each year.
Obviously, we cannot restore the river that Lewis and Clark knew. Great cities have risen along the Missouri's banks and must be protected from flooding. But by 2004, the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's "Voyage of Discovery," we can create a river they would recognize.
This month the Corps is in the midst of developing a new management plan for the river's six big dams in eastern Montana and the Dakotas. Today, those dams still operate primarily to benefit a handful of barges, at the expense of recreation and river wildlife.
Instead, the Corps should release more water in the spring to build back the sand bars and trigger fish spawning, and less water in the summer to aid recreation and river wildlife. The river's few barges could continue to use the river in the spring and fall, when more than 80 percent of the river's farm-related cargo now moves. Floodplain farmers would still be able to drain their fields, according to Corps studies. And Mississippi River barges would benefit from greater Missouri River flows in the fall, when many of the nation's farm products head to New Orleans for export.
An eager beaver.
Photo courtesy of American Rivers
The Army's engineers have ignored the needs of recreation, river wildlife, and riverside communities for too long. If we act now, we can, by 2004, create a string of natural places along the Missouri where people can enjoy themselves and wildlife will flourish.
Restoring balance to the Missouri enjoys support all along the river. Last month, six Iowa conservation groups urged Vice Pres. Al Gore to reform dam operations. And Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) have concluded that implementing the "split navigation season" is the best solution.
The Army and the Clinton administration now face a major test of their resolve. If they are truly committed to balanced use of the Missouri River and protection of its wildlife, they must overrule the Corps staff and reform dam operations. Dam procedures designed primarily to benefit barge operators will almost certainly lead to the extinction of several species and will certainly ignore economic reality -- Missouri River recreation already produces 10 times as many benefits as barge traffic.
The approaching Lewis and Clark bicentennial in 2004 will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore the Missouri River they traveled on. We must not let the Army Corps of Engineers squander it in 2000.
Historian Stephen Ambrose is the author of Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West. He serves on the board of American Rivers, and recently pledged $1.25 million of his book royalties to the organization's campaign to restore the Missouri River. |
