Tailwater tactics puzzling, need to be 'casted' aside
Bowling Green Daily News
Friday, April 12, 2013

For decades, people have enjoyed the privilege of being able to fish the tailwaters below Lake Barkley and Wolf Creek dams below the Cumberland River. It’s a tradition that shouldn’t be interfered with by anyone, especially the federal government.

But to no surprise, the big government mentality is at work in Kentucky and Tennessee as the U.S. Corps of Engineers is attempting to install barriers on the tailwaters so fisherman and those who enjoy recreational boating can no longer access these treasured waters. The plan would also entail 24-hour guards to keep boaters and fisherman out of the area.

This plan is a slap in the face to the thousands of fishermen and recreational boaters who use the tailwaters each year.

Even worse, the corps can’t give any of our federal elected officials any answers as to why they are doing this. Last week, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., asked the corps to provide the documentation that was used by the corps to reinterpret a policy written in 1996 that allowed access for fishing in these waters. Whitfield sent a letter to the Nashville District Corps asking for supporting documentation that led to their decision to install permanent blockades along Cumberland River dams. The corps has refused to provide answers to Whitfield’s inquiries and has told Whitfield it could take up to six months to provide a study or data of why these barriers are necessary.

Talk about stalling tactics. It doesn’t take six months to get these statistics. Simply put, they are an entity of the federal government and in their minds they can do what they want no matter how many thousands are affected by their intrusive actions.

The people of Kentucky demand answers from the corps now. The people of Kentucky would like to know why this is necessary and why, at a time when our country is facing a $16 trillion debt, are they being allowed to spend $3 million on these barriers?

Kentuckians won’t take this sitting down. Thankfully, we have like-minded elected officials who are taking the fight to the corps. Whitfield has introduced the Freedom to Fish Act on the House side and U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., have introduced the Freedom to Fish Act in the Senate. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also introduced the bill.

The legislation would prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from installing physical barriers along positions of the Cumberland River. They cite not only the negative impact that the barricades would have on the fisherman and recreational boaters, but also the major impact on the communities near the dams and to the state’s economy as a whole.

McConnell made a good point when he stated, “Instead of imposing burdensome federal regulations, which this administration believes is the solution to every problem, I believe the corps should work with these communities on alternative proposals that ensure safety, but allow anglers access to waters they have safely fished for years.”

The corps is wrong to put these barricades up. It is government overreach at its worst and we urge all Kentuckians to contact the Nashville District of the corps at 1-615-736-7161 and tell them your outrage that they would contemplate doing this and urge them to halt this unfair, intrusive plan.


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Note: Most of the above editorial was republished in the Frankfort State Journal on April 22, 2013. Three of the final paragraphs that mentioned Republican congressmen were omitted from the State Journal's version.


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(forum administrator, feel free to move this post to the tailwater thread if necessary)