Missouri Department of Natural Resources with cojones?

Carol Stark-Editor, The Joplin Globe,Sunday, May 27, 2007, declares to her readers that it is Time to Take Ownership. She states that between one-third and one-half of area streams and creeks routinely test for levels of E. coli so high that they are unsafe for bodily contact.

It will take willing legislators who lean more toward protecting the people than prostituting themselves for big agriculture. It will take community and county leaders who aren’t afraid of zoning and planning, tougher septic controls and implementation of rural sewer districts. And, finally, it will take a Missouri Department of Natural Resources with cojones.

All of this will mean taking ownership, not just of our favorite swimming or fishing holes, but for our part of the problem, for our septic systems, and our wastewater treatment plants, and our runoff from our farms. It also will mean taking ownership of the political process and making lifestyle changes today so we don’t wreck one of the best things about living in the Ozarks. It will take swimming upstream. It will take a lot of work. But count us in!

Knock, knock..is anyone listening.