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MISSOURI RIVER
ASSOCIATION OF STATES AND TRIBES
After almost two years of
diligent work by key state and tribal officials, and with the
organizational support of the Missouri River Basin Association,
the structure and function of a new, more broadly based
organization was developed to represent the interests of the
states and tribes in the Missouri River Basin. The initial
outcome was the adoption of a joint resolution by the Mni Sose
Intertribal Water Rights Coalition and the Governors of the
States of Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas in the summer of 2006 that authorized
the creation of the Missouri River Association of States and
Tribes (MoRAST) and setting forth its purpose. MoRAST was
incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of
Nebraska in the fall of 2006.
The purpose of MoRAST is…
“To serve as a
forum for the identification, discussion, and resolution of
issues
of concern to
the basin states and tribes, including matters of interstate
comity
and matters of
common concern that arise due to the actions and programs of
the federal
government, states, tribes, and other interests. This shall
involve
facilitating
management of the natural resources of the Missouri River Basin
including water
resources, fish and wildlife, and consideration of the
impacts to the
economic, historical, cultural, and social resources among the
basin states, tribes, and the federal
government.”
One of the principle goals of
MoRAST is to bring together the representatives of the Governors
and to provide for direct participation by the American Indian
Tribes in the Missouri River Basin. In the past, two separate
organizations dealt with Missouri River issues for the states in
the basin, the Missouri River Basin Association (MRBA) and the
Missouri River Natural Resources Committee (MRNRC). The
organizations often viewed river issues differently and
sometimes sent conflicting recommendations to federal agencies,
which sent mixed signals from the states.
MRBA has been recently dissolved
and will be replaced by MoRAST, which will serve as the primary
organization of the states and tribes at the policy level for
Missouri River issues. MRNRC will continue as a separate
organization, but will work in cooperation with MoRAST. It will
continue to provide a mechanism to coordinate various important
functions among the state biologists and continue to sponsor the
valuable annual Missouri River Natural Resources Conference.
However, policy issues will be the purview of the board of
directors of MoRAST. MRNRC, together with representative of the
tribes, will also serve as the MoRAST standing Fish and Wildlife
Committee. MoRAST also has standing committees to deal with
water management and state/tribal issues and may also have joint
committee meetings at times to deal with certain issues.
The Governors have appointed
state officials to the initial board of directors of MoRAST.
These are typically cabinet level or senior policy level
officials from the various agencies, normally with one
representing the water management agency and one the fish and
wildlife agency for each state, except for Wyoming. The agency
structure and names vary by state. The State of Wyoming has
currently chosen to be represented by a single director, since
it is not a “main stem” state. MoRAST also allows direct
participation by the 28 American Indian Tribes in the basin
through six voting members, or in an advisory capacity for the
other tribes. In this manner, a reasonable balance is
maintained on the board among the water management, fish and
wildlife and tribal interests in the basin. The
MoRAST bylaws have been adopted
by the initial board of directors. They also allow federal
agencies that operate in the basin to be invited to appoint an
advisory member to participate with the MoRAST board in a
non-voting capacity. The process to identify these participants
is underway.
John Cooper of South Dakota
currently serves Chairman, Mary Sexton of Montana as Vice
Chairperson, Kirk Nelson of Nebraska as Treasurer and Tracy
Streeter of Kansas as Secretary.
David L. Pope has been selected
as the Executive Director for MoRAST. He recently opened an
office at 825 South Kansas Avenue, Suite 500, Topeka, Kansas
66612 and can be reached at:
david.pope@mo-rast.org or (785) 235-3247. |