By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A new management plan is being developed for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southern Missouri.
Tonight, the first of five open houses will be held to solicit public input on the plan.
National Park Service spokesperson Elisa Kunz says there are four alternatives for the 80-thousand-acre park. They range from doing nothing to much more development.
"We'll definitely have challenges trying to get people to agree but overall the whole point is that we want to provide for this resource so that it's still here in the next fifty years, one hundred years, for people to come and enjoy and still protect the safety of the individuals who are coming," Kunz said.
The suggested plans are drawing criticism from boating and horseback-riding enthusiasts who are opposed to more restrictions in the park.
Open houses on the new management plan will be held in Van Buren (Monday), Eminence (Tuesday), Salem (Wednesday), Columbia (Thursday) and Clayton this Friday (3:30 p.m.)