[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E185-E186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       MISSISSIPPI INTERSTATE COOPERATIVE RESOURCES AGREEMENT ACT

                                 ______


                          HON. STEVE GUNDERSON

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 1996

  Mr. GUNDERSON. Mr. Chairman, today I am introducing the Mississippi 
Interstate Cooperative Resources Agreement Act, which would provide 
Federal recognition for an alliance formed to protect Mississippi River 
Drainage Basin fishery resources. By directing the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service to conduct a pilot test of the Mississippi Interstate 
Cooperative Resources Agreement, or MICRA, the bill is intended to take 
an important stride in protecting the future well-being of the 
interjurisdictional rivers of the United States, as well as their 
valuable fisheries and natural resources.


                          need for legislation

  Interjurisdictional rivers flow between, or are common to, two or 
more State boundaries. These rivers form large ecosystems that are 
important to the Nation in terms of both their economic and intrinsic 
values. The Mississippi River Basin includes the drainage of six such 
interjurisdictional rivers: the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, 
Arkansas, and Red Rivers. Including its tributaries, the basin contains 
about 98 rivers and small tributaries, sustains approximately 98 fish 
species, and spans 28 U.S. States.
  Many fishery resources in the Mississippi River Basin have suffered 
serious declines over the past few decades. Many States in the basin 
list numerous native riverine species as threatened, endangered, or 
nearly eliminated. This is, in large part, due to the 
interjurisdictional nature of the basin. When rivers that provide 
critical habitat to a multitude of fish and wildlife cross State 
boundaries, State-sponsored resources management and preservation 
programs become hampered. Typically, there is no single entity that has 
complete responsibility for the fishery resources in the wide variety 
of rivers and tributaries making up the Basin. This absence of clear 
jurisdiction allows management of those resources to fall through the 
cracks.
  In addition, as a shared resource, the Mississippi Basin suffers from 
the problem of the commons. Individual States are often hesitant to 
invest in interjurisdictional rivers because other States may benefit 
without contributing themselves. Compounding the problem is the sheer 
size of the resource base associated with the Mississippi Basin. For 
decades, States believed that management was unnecessary--the resource 
was limitless.
  The implementation of MICRA has been a positive first step in 
addressing these problems by serving as a catalyst in bringing managing 
partners together and combining their economic and manpower resources.


                        micra's accomplishments

  Drafted in 1989, the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resources 
Agreement was 

[[Page E186]]
signed by the State natural resource agency directors of all 28 States 
by the end of 1990. In addition, the agreement has been signed by the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the 
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the National Biological Service, the 
Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma and the Chippewa-Cree Tribe in Montana. 
Since its formation, one of MICRA's most important accomplishments has 
been to bring resource managers together in the realization that all 
had a strong interest in preserving and protecting fish and wildlife.
  The Agreement originated from a shared concern for the welfare of the 
ancient paddlefish, a species which was at one time abundant in the 
basin, providing robust commercial and recreational fishery 
opportunities. The basin States recognized the need to protect the 
species on a multi-State basis and joined forces to develop a common 
approach and share resources in protecting the paddlefish and other 
important species.
  MICRA has since evolved to address losses in all kinds of aquatic 
species. Its mission has become to ``improve the conservation, 
development, management and utilization of interjurisdictional fishery 
resources in the Mississippi River Basin through improved coordination 
and communication among the responsible management entities.''
  MICRA is administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which 
provides a full time MICRA Coordinator/Executive Secretary. The 
Association, composed of one representative from each member State and 
entity, publishes a bimonthly newsletter, called River Crossings, as 
its primary means of information exchange.
  Included among MICRA's goals are: improving basin-wide networking and 
coordinating mechanisms; developing public information and education 
programs; identifying and prioritizing issues of concern for 
coordinated research; and developing compatible regulations and 
policies for the allocation of fishery resources.
  MICRA members are aware that industry and agriculture are, like the 
fish and wildlife inhabiting the basin, dependent upon large rivers for 
transportation, irrigation, power generation and other water-dependent 
operations. The goal, therefore, is not to eliminate waterway 
development projects and uses, but to determine how those uses can 
exist compatibly with environmentally sound fishery resource management 
on a region-wide basis.


             addressing funding and concerns of the states

  The bill I offer today provides Federal recognition for MICRA and 
establishes a pilot test for the implementation of that agreement. It 
will not impose any mandates upon the States. All of those involved in 
the creation of this legislation have taken great care to address 
concerns expressed by the States over the degree to which State 
prerogatives will be maintained. All the States involved in this 
program have become so voluntarily. Congressional acknowledgment of the 
Agreement would provide further opportunity to address basin-wide 
fishery management issues by ensuring access to Federal funding and 
encouraging greater support from member agencies.

  Under the MICRA pilot test established by this bill, MICRA 
signatories would, among other matters, identify and describe the river 
ecosystems of the drainage basin, identify the factors most adversely 
affecting the basin and its resources, allow for resource-sharing among 
the various MICRA signatories, develop plans for restoration of fishery 
resources, and evaluate the possibility of extending such a program to 
other river basins in the United States. All of these goals will be 
pursued under the existing funding structure under which MICRA 
currently operates. The bill does not authorize any appropriations, but 
allows the Secretary of the Interior to use U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
funds to carry out the objectives.
  Finally, as proposed in this bill, MICRA will not duplicate any 
existing organizational network. Rather, coordinated resources will be 
used to enhance existing programs and institutions. MICRA will not only 
serve as a tool for protecting fisheries throughout the Mississippi 
River Drainage Basin, but may serve as a model for protecting fishery 
resources throughout the Nation as well.


                          support for the bill

  This bill is the result of over 3 years of consultations between 
myself, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, State fish and wildlife 
agencies and national and local chapters of the major river resource 
management organizations. I have attached copies of endorsement letters 
from many of these groups, and ask that they be included in the Record.

                          ____________________