Resources Chairman James V. Hansen's Remarks for 02-16-02 Grand Island, NE Hearing

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Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 2200 N. 33rd St. / P.O. Box 30370 / Lincoln, NE 68503 -0370 Phone: 402 - 471 -0641 / Fax: 402 -471 -5528 / http: / /wwwngpc.state.ne.us/ Mr. Chairman and members-of the Committee on Resources, it is a privilege and honor to provide testimony to you this afternoon here in America's Heartland at Grand Island, Nebraska representing the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. My name Rex Amack. I am a native Nebraskan having grown up on a farm on the Republican River in Webster County near Red Cloud about 60 miles due south of this hearing room. I have worked for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission since June, 1967. 1 have served the Commission as Agency Director since April, 1988. You have asked me here today to share the Commission's views regarding the Platte River Cooperative Agreement and the Game and Parks Commission's experiences protecting species iri Nebraska in coordination with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission acting alone. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has been a participant in the Platte River Cooperative Agreement since its inception. Although the Commission has not played a major role in the formation or operation of the Cooperative Agreement, we have been involved in committee work developing the Nebraska Program and we fully support the Agreement's intent and goals. The issue is extremely complex and there are no simple solutions to the problems and conflicts that have arisen during the past several decades over the future use of Platte River water. The waters of the Platte River serve the people of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska in many ways. The Platte provides municipal and industrial water supplies for about 3.5 million people, it is used to irrigate millions of acres of farmland, it generates millions of dollars of hydroelectric power, and it provides a variety of -habitat for fish and wildlife, - including the four endangered species that are the subject of the Cooperative Agreement. The Platte and the associated reservoirs provide anglers, hunters, wildlife viewers, boaters and other outdoor recreation enthusiasts opportunities to pursue and enjoy their activities, resulting in significant social and economic benefits. Protection and restoration on an ecosystem scale is more effective than trying to save one species or one small habitat at a time. A basin approach such as the Cooperative Agreement is preferable to a piecemeal approach. The Cooperative Agreement is attempting to bring the many parties of the basin together to attempt to find solutions to the many problems associated with limited water resources and threatened and endangered species. By bringing all effected parties together, everyone gets a chance to provide input and to see how the process is established so there is not the perception of the federal government, especially the United States Department of the Interior, carrying out its mission without input or other parties' considerations. Printed on recycled paper with soy ink.