Public unveiling of Yellow River Initiative website will be April 13

Representatives of the Midwest Natural Resources Group (MNRG), a federal Interagency partnership, will hold two informal public “open house” meetings to present and demonstrate the final draft of the “Yellow River Initiative” web site for the Yellow River watershed. These meetings will be held at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Waukon from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 13.

Details of the web site will be explained by John Sowl of the National Park Service’s Midwest Regional Office located in Omaha, NE, together with Rodney Rovang of Effigy Mounds National Monument, Tex Hawkins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Scott Knutti of St. Mary’s University of Winona, MN.

The development of this final draft of the web site represents the incorporation of two years of research plus comments received from public “open house” meetings held March 26, 2003 at Waukon. With its development now mostly completed, the public is invited to participate in these meetings to learn about the web site and its features, including an opportunity to ask questions and to make any final suggestions to refine the site.

The draft web site can be found at www.umbsn.org. Locate and click on “Watershed Programs” on the left, then click on “Yellow River Initiative” in the sub-menu, then click on the link titled “Yellow River Initiative Home Page.”

The purpose of the “Yellow River Initiative” is fourfold:

• To assess the natural resources within the Yellow River watershed, based on existing information and determine their extent, distribution, and condition;

• To allow a team of federal and local, non-federal partners to summarize the assessment results and use them to identify possible options to promote the long-term sustainability of the watershed’s natural resources;

• To develop resources for technical and financial assistance information and contacts to help the public to implement these various identified options, if desired, and

• To enable people to voluntarily use this information to help them achieve long-term natural resource sustainability and stewardship within the Yellow River watershed.

This final report on the “Yellow River Initiative” showcases the efforts of the NPS, together with its broad partnership of federal, state and local agencies and offices, along with a number of non-governmental organizations and individuals, to successfully complete the development of this web site within the allotted two-year time period. The NPS expresses its appreciation to its partners and the public for their contributions toward making this web site a reality and for helping to promote a sustainable future for the Yellow River watershed’s resources.

Contact Rodney Rovang, Resource Manager, Effigy Mounds National Monument, at 563-873-3491 with any questions.