Katy Trail Connection to Kansas City in wider perspective

An article in the Park Hills Daily Journal puts the Katy Trail connection to Kansas City in a larger context of the dispute and negotiations between energy giant Ameren, local and state officials, and citizens:

Quad-State Trail--the Katy Connection to Kansas City is a vital component

Despite years of protest from neighbors, the East Ozarks Audubon Society and state officials, owner Ameren Corporation continues to list Church Mountain as an optional site for future electrical plants.

The East Ozarks Audubon Society continues to call for the mountain to be developed with wilderness hiking trails for public use. They strongly opposed Ameren's preliminary plans in 2001 to locate a plant on Church Mountain. Former Gov. Bob Holden and Attorney General Jay Nixon joined in the objections, and Ameren dropped the issue.

Last week, Gov. Matt Blunt urged Ameren to donate the mountain and its Rock Island Rail Railroad land to the state as partial compensation for the damage caused Dec. 14. That was when a breach in the Upper Taum Sauk reservoir on Proffit Mountain sent 1.3 billion gallons of water raging down Proffit Mountain into Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park. This was Blunt's second request since the Taum Sauk failure.

“As settlement talks continue, we must ensure that the interests of all Missouri citizens who enjoy our state's natural resources are being considered,” Blunt said in his request. “The opportunity to extend the Katy Trail to Kansas City would be an attractive option as would adding Church Mountain to Missouri's 83 state parks and historic sites.”

MoBikeFed is encouraging citizens from across the state to email DNR and Ameren, asking them to negotiate for use of the Katy Trail connection to Kansas City.

We are shooting for 2000 messages by October 14th and so far we have 1750.