Our Vison

• To maintain productive, biodiverse riparian ecosystems that provide quality water, habitat, recreation, and power to meet the economic and ecological needs of the Missouri River Watershed region.

Our Goals

• To reduce the introduction and spread of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) in the Missouri River Watershed region.
• To increase regional coordination and communication.
• To maximize funding efficiency for public education, prevention, management, and restoration projects on riparian corridors.
• To team government, businesses, universities, conservation groups, water users, and sportsmen in private-public partnerships.

Membership

The Missouri River Watershed Coalition includes federal, state, and local agencies, businesses, universities, conservation groups, and private landowners. Together, they have drafted a Saltcedar Management Plan to coordinate efforts to manage saltcedar and restore riparian corridors of the Missouri River watershed.

To learn more, contact:

• Colorado – Kelly Uhing, Colorado Dept. of Agriculture [kelly.uhing@ag.state.co.us]
• Montana – Dave Burch, Montana Dept. of Agriculture [dburch@mt.gov]
• Nebraska – Mitch Coffin, Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture [mcoffin@agr.ne.gov]
• North Dakota – Rachel Seifert-Spilde, North Dakota Dept. of Agriculture [rseifert@state.nd.us]
• South Dakota – Ron Moehring, South Dakota Dept. of Agriculture [ron.moehring@state.sd.us]
• Wyoming – Slade Franklin, Wyoming Dept. of Agriculture [sfrank@state.wy.us]

 

From its headwaters in the northern Rockies, the Missouri River flows through the Upper Midwest, then southeast to join the Mississippi River, fed by a watershed that covers 500,000 square miles over 10 states.

The rivers, streams, reservoirs, and ponds of the watershed support agriculture, recreation, tourism, wildlife habitat, irrigation, drinking water, power generation and livestock production. Many of these uses are threatened by invasive saltcedar (Tamarix spp.).

As saltcedar replaces native vegetation along the Missouri River and its tributaries, it can create dense monocultures that restrict access for irrigation, wildlife, and outdoor enthusiasts. Saltcedar can wipe out habitat used by threatened and endangered species and may reduce the amount and quality of water essential to agriculture, recreation and tourism, wildlife, power generation, and human consumption.

The Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska departments of agriculture signed a Memorandum of Agreement in 2006 to coordinate the management of invasive plant species in the five-state area. Saltcedar was the first species targeted.

For more information . . .

• One-page Missouri River Watershed Coalition poster (Feb. 2007)
• Controlling tamarisk General info and recommended approach from The Nature Conservancy
• Fact sheet from Invasives on the Web
• Fact sheet from Plant Conservation Alliance
• Tamarisk Bibliography
• Tamarisk Coalition [www.tamariskcoalition.org]