October 22, 2009

Ms. Lisa Jackson
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington DC

Dear Ms. Jackson,
I have decided to show you some pictures of the damage inflicted on the South Prong of the Jacks Fork National Scenic River by Pierce Township in Texas County, Missouri. These pictures might help illustrate our frustration with Region VII EPA. They took the lead on this after I raised cane and called every state and federal agency about this in 2004. Here we are in 2009 and the EPA is still letting Texas County off the hook. This is unacceptable! Tons of gravel have since been loosened and travelled downstream. Immediate remediation of this manmade problem could have prevented that. Rivers don't wait for our political arguments. They only obey the laws of nature and physics. This insult and others were inflicted on our First National Scenic River by ignorance and the damage has been prolonged by apathy, lack of concern and malfiesance of office at Region VII.
Texas County Officials earlier this year encouraged Shannon County to do something similar on Big Creek, a major tributary of the Current National Scenic River. The state and EPA have refused to bring Shannon County Officials to justice.
We understand that you and President Obama want to toughen water enforcement. This would be a good place to start

It's been nearly 40 years since these river were declared "protected" and twenty years since the Missouri Stream Team Program was initiated. I would now declare that these two attempts at resource protection have failed miserably. At this point, it seems like the only recourse we have is to enlist a Klingon Warbird to see if they couldn't administer some justice.

These actions taken by local governments have rendered federal protection a lie and a broken promise.

Please help!

Sincerely,
Tom Kruzen, Missouri Sierra Club Watre Sentinel Volunteer
213 East Third St.
Mountain View, Missouri, 65548
417-934-2818