The Lower Mississippi Aquatic Resource Management Plan, or ARMP, finalized and approved in 2000, provides a 10-year operational plan to address the primary factors adversely affecting the aquatic resources in the Lower Mississippi River's active floodplain and backwater areas. It is a far-reaching effort to unite a wide array of federal, state/local government, and private sector stakeholders to protect and restore the nationally significant natural resources found in the Mississippi River ecosystem. The plan is based upon the premise that the river systems aquatic resources, including recreational and commercial fisheries, are among the most ecologically diverse in the United States and constitute important national assets that contribute substantially to the regional economy as well as the quality of American life.