The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold public listening session meetings on the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study (MRAPS) in Fort Pierre, SD and Kansas City, Kansas, during the first week of October. The purpose of the sessions is to conduct a formal kickoff of the study and solicit input regarding the best means for collaboration and communication during the course of the study. Each meeting location will host two identical open-house sessions.

Here's a Web site with relevant information: http://mraps.org/

Here's the location for the event in the KC area:

Thursday, Oct. 8
5-6:30 pm and again 6:30-8 pm
Kansas City, Kansas
Hilton Garden Inn
500 Minnesota Ave.

These two initial October meetings are informal open-house type of events to announce the study to the general public and to obtain initial public feedback. Following these two events and into next year, the Corps of Engineers will hold a series of facilitated focus group sessions across the basin to ensure that interested parties are heard. The upcoming study scoping phase will also have its own series of public scoping meetings across the basin...advance notice of the public scoping meeting events and dates will be forthcoming in mid-2010.

Here's a useful Q&A document: http://mraps.org/downloads/mraps_qa.pdf

Cheers,
Dan

Don't forget --

The Corps of Engineers public meetings about the Missouri River basin are this Thursday over at the same hotel we have the safety meeting.

As Scott said, this would be a good meeting for paddlers to show up and represent as regular users of the river.  The river is a valuable resource in many ways.  Let's all pitch in and ensure it continues to be so.

Thursday, Oct. 8
5-6:30 pm and again 6:30-8 pm
Kansas City, Kansas
Hilton Garden Inn
500 Minnesota Ave.