By Kevin Lavery
St. Louis, MO – On their journey up the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark took detailed notes about the natural environment. Their descriptions of big bison and fragile flowers became a scientific primer for countless expeditions that followed. America saw little need to protect its wildlife 200 years ago. Today, the Missouri River is a whirlpool of environmental politics. In part two of our series, Kevin Lavery reports on how river communities co-exist with nature.
Listen to Part 1: Low River Levels Hurt the Economy
Earlier this month, the state of Missouri failed to stop the Army Corps of Engineers from conducting a spring rise on the Missouri River. Environmentalists say the rise was needed to help the endangered pallid sturgeon. Missouri argued it would flood its cities and farms. Kevin Lavery recently traveled to North Dakota to see the upstream side of the issue. In the first part of the series, Kevin Lavery explores how the river shapes the economy.