Tagged: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is taking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to task for its handling of the Missouri River, which has flooded thousands of acres of farmland in seven states.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of a June 28 letter in which Vilsack questions the Corps' decision not to release more water from dams earlier in the spring to prevent prolonged flooding this summer. The flooding followed spring rains and the melting of a deep Rocky Mountain snowpack.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is catching flak for sending out letters to farmers along the flooded Missouri River.

The letters in question are an attempt to gauge farmers' interest in selling their lands to the federal government for wildlife habitat restoration.  Farmers in Missouri and Iowa have been receiving the letters.