2020 Policy Highlights and the 2021 Round-Up from MRN Members & Friends
Reflecting on 2020: MRN’s Policy Highlights
Happy new year, River Citizens! While our biggest challenges of 2020 — a global pandemic, devastating economic downturn, and continuing racial reckoning — continue into 2021, we pause at the beginning of this new year to reflect and appreciate the accomplishments made possible by our River Citizens and our Mississippi River Network (MRN) members throughout the basin.
In 2020, we continued our focus on advancing federal and state policies that 1) promote just, equitable, and resilient communities, 2) reduce impacts of agricultural and urban runoff pollution, and 3) protect and restore ecosystem form and function.
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Here are some of our proudest accomplishments:
● 40+ meetings with Congressional decision-makers in all 10 mainstem Mississippi River states 2020; 23 meetings were part of September’s virtual fly-in event where 12 MRN member organizations participated
● 10 letters to each of the state agencies participating in the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force urging ramped up action on state nutrient reduction strategies, over 20 MRN organizations joined the letters and MRN members represented 100% of the public comments made during the Fall 2020 Gulf Hypoxia Task Force meeting
● 2 Sign-On Letters Opposing Yazoo Pumps with 109 and 123 organizations joining, respectively; over 70 River Citizens took action
● We reached out to every Congressional decision-maker in the River basin to ask them to join you in becoming a River Citizen! We’re delighted to have Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08), Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), Congressman Ron Kind (WI-3), Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17), and Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) as part of our 20,000-strong River Citizen community.
What’s around the bend? The 2021 Round-Up from MRN Members & Friends
The Mississippi River basin is vast. Our work is made possible by so many of our MRN members and friends in each of your home states. Many of these organizations track state-based policies that are decided at the level of the state legislatures.
Are you curious about what you can expect in your state or how to learn more about your local water and river organization’s 2020 highlights? If so, please check out the blogs, webinars, and podcasts below for more highlights and forecasts from across the entire Mississippi River basin. After all, we are 1 Mississippi!
MN
● Friends of the Mississippi River, Our 2021 legislative priorities
● Friends of the Mississippi River, What the 2020 election results mean for the River
WI
● Clean Wisconsin, Looking Back, Looking Forward podcast episode
IA
● Iowa Environmental Council, 2021 Legislative Preview Webinar on 1/6/2021
● Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, 2020 Year-In-Review Video
IL
● Illinois Stewardship Alliance, 2020 Highlight Reel
● Illinois Environmental Council, 2020 Post-Election Environmental Analysis
MO
● Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Advocacy Resources for the New Year
KY
● Kentucky Waterways Alliance
TN
● Harpeth Conservancy, Conservation Conversations: Holiday Recycling Tips to Protect River Ecosystems
AR
● Arkansas Public Policy Council, How to Lobby During a Pandemic webinar on 1/10/2021
MS
● Quapaw Canoe Company, A Prayer for Our Earth
LA
● Healthy Gulf, Offshore drilling, renewable energy and election 2020
National & Regional Organizations
● American Farmland Trust, Shedding Light: Women for the Land’s Lessons of 2020
● American Rivers, Our Most-Read Blogs of 2020
● Izaak Walton League of America, A blueprint for common-sense conservation: Izaak Walton League policy recommendations for 2021
● National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, Year in Review, 2020
● National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, TOP 20 WINS (AND FIGHTS!) FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN 2020
● The River Network, 2020 Trends Report: State of River and Watershed Protection
-Maisah Khan,
Mississippi River Network Policy Manager
Can the River Count on You?
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Step 2
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Step 3
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There are many ways you can jump in and take action for a healthy Mississippi River. Our 10 actions list includes simple steps you can take at any time and wherever you are. Check out our action center for current action alerts, bigger projects we are working on, and ways to get involved.