The Ozarks are home to some of the most amazing, clear-running rivers anywhere. Below is some information on them, and groups working to protect them.
Organizations
Arkanas Canoe Club
The Ozark Society
Ozark Riverkeepers Network
Loose-knit Ozarkers working to protect the Current, Jack's Fork, and Eleven Point Rivers.
Scenic Rivers Stream Team Association

ACTION ALERT- IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
STOP LARGE HOG CAFO FOR THE BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER WATERSHED

The Center for Biological Diversity and a local partner notified two federal agencies last week that we intend to sue over their failure to protect the Ozark hellbender, Hine's emerald dragonfly, Tumbling Creek cavesnail and two endangered mussels in Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest. We want the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit the Mark Twain's 2005 forest plan to make changes that will help save endangered species and essential habitats on the forest -- aquatic species that have gained their federally protected status since 2005.

NOTE: The following letter was penned by our very own Tom Kruzen, who for various reasons is unable at present to post to this forum. Because the letter is worthy of re-publication, and this is as good a forum as any, here it is:

January 26, 2012

Dear Editor,

Federal agency finds Ozark hellbender endangered

By The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal agency has declared the Ozark hellbender an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule on Wednesday that places the aquatic salamander in the endangered category.
The amphibian lives in streams in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri and can reach two feet in length.

The agency says the main threat to the Ozark hellbender is damage to its habitat from mining, animal operations and fertilizer runoff.

According to Forest Service data the Ozark hellbender's range is in the White and Black River watersheds of southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas.
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Habitat Protection Urged for Ozark Hellbender

Scenic Rivers Stream Team Association will hold its bimonthly meeting at the VFW Hall in Mt. View, Mo. on April 21, 2010. Potluck begins at 6:30 pm. Topics to be discussed will be VFW fundraising, river clean-ups, picnics and the biomass burning issue and how it affects our rivers.

In the event you Missouri fisherpersons out there have not read the 2008 "Missouri Fishing Regulations", it might be wise to do so, in particular if you partake of any of your catch.

These regulations read, in part, "Because all fish have various levels of mercury, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends sensitive populations consume no more than one meal per week when no other advisory is present."

Sensitive populations are in essence, any female of childbearing age, whether pregnant or not, and children under age 13.

Numerous electric service providers throughout the Ozarks are presently using a combination of herbicides to kill the native plants, trees, and shrubs that grow beneath the power lines throughout our region. Countless numbers of plants and animal communities are being sprayed, causing extensive harm to a wide range of species. Studies from around the world show that the toxic chemical residues from pesticides and herbicides can and do wash into area creeks, ponds, and groundwater.

Electric utilities throughout the Ozarks are presently using a combination of herbicides to kill the native plants, trees, and shrubs that grow beneath the power lines throughout our region. Thousands of miles of Right of Ways (ROW’s) are being sprayed, causing harm to a wide range of species. Chemical residues from herbicides wash into area creeks, ponds, springs, wells, and groundwater.