Coalition Applauds Governor’s Decision to Reject Membership in New Missouri River Group

Members of the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River are pleased with a decision by Governor Matt Blunt to leave this state out of a new Missouri River group they say is just a front for environmentalists. The newly forming Missouri River Association of States and Tribes has two representatives from each river basin state – one for states’ interests and one for fish and wildlife interests. Missouri Farm Bureau President Charlie Kruse, a member of the coalition, says that stacks the deck in favor of upstream states’ and environmental interests. Kruse says he’ll focus his lobbying efforts on the real decision makers. Kruse says they’ll still monitor what the new group does.