The Quapaws on the river
You may not have noticed, but there is a growing interest in nature tourism on the Mississippi River. I’m spent most of my time in the past few years along the northern half of the Mississippi, so I’m pretty familiar with the opportunities for nature tourism in those areas. I’m only now beginning to explore the southern half of the Mississippi, and I’m grateful that I’ll have the opportunity to learn about it from John Ruskey and the folks at the Quapaw Canoe Company. (I hope to join them on the river for a couple of days in April.) John has been exploring and leading trips on the lower Mississippi since 1998. One of his newest projects (obsessions?) is preparing river maps for folks who are interested in exploring the lower Mississippi.
John and company are doing great work, but they have a problem right now. The State of Mississippi has recently served them with a hefty and unexpected tax bill. You can read John’s explanation of the whole situation here. They are fighting the decision; they have to. Their survival depends on it. But fighting costs money; that’s where we come in.
We can give money to help cover their legal and accounting expenses. I know that doesn’t seem as sexy as rescuing whales or saving cute baby seals, but it is just as important.
The river needs the Quapaw Canoe Company to stick around. The future of the Mississippi River depends on an active culture of nature tourism to balance the other interests that see it as little more than a shipping canal. So let the State of Mississippi and the Quapaws know that you support nature tourism on the Mississippi River. Tell them today.
You can show the Quapaws some love here.
