2008 Woodie Awards
Off-roaders, listen up
Minnow threatens Canadian River recreation
Laura Leedy
Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Opinion
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For those who enjoy taking their motorcycles, ATVs, Jeeps and dune buggies to the Canadian River, the U.S Fish and Game Department is in the process of making it off limits to us due to a little fish by the name of the Arkansas shiner minnow.
How can a fish so small cause such a huge problem and raise such an uproar?
The minnow first was proposed for listing as an endangered species in August 1994. It later was listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act in November 1998.
Then, designation of critical habitat was not relevant. However, three years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service turned its decision around and designated 1,100 miles of river as critical habitat.
In 2003, Texas announced the closure of all riverbeds to ATVs, motorcycles and Jeeps, with the exception of the Canadian River.
The Texas Off-Roaders Association of Amarillo was able to exempt the river from closure then.
So now, why, all of a sudden, are they threatening to close the river again for some stupid minnow that should've stayed up in Arkansas?
The U.S. Fish and Game Department says it is because the Canadian River "has become a critical habitat for the Arkansas Shiner Minnow" - again.
How sad. It's called "survival of the fittest," and apparently the minnow isn't fit to survive here. Cry me a river (no pun intended).
People have been going to the river since, to my knowledge, the 1940s. It blows my mind that nothing was said or done about this "huge problem" over most of those years.
What purpose does this minnow serve? What the heck does an Arkansas shiner minnow look like? Had anyone even heard about this minnow before they started making a big stink about it?
Probably not.
So what does this mean for us diehard off-roaders? Let me enlighten you.
No more late-night river runs, no more weekend trips with the four-wheelers, motorcycles, trucks, Jeeps - basically anything that runs or is fun to play in the mud with.