We hear every day that federal land managers have no money and therefor must unload the operation of public facilities in order to cut costs.

Here's a twist on that standard model.

Congress has just authorized payment of up to $10 million dollars to a non-profit organization as part of a deal designed to PRIVATIZE a 96-mile National Heritage waterway -- privatize being the word used in the appended article.

Pay-to-privatize!?
Is this the wave of the future?

Scott

-- begin quoted ---

September 30, 2006
Final OK will privatize site I&M CANAL
By CHRISTINA CHAPMAN  - Staff writer

It's almost official -- the Illinois & Michigan Canal's future will be under the private control of the Canal Corridor Association, with federal funding, if President Bush signs a bill.

After three tries, the Senate finally passed the long-awaited bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Morris, reauthorizing administration of the canal to the CCA. That will provide the CCA with $10 million in funding over the next 15 years to promote job creation and tourism. Up to $1 million can be used a year and the funds have to be matched dollar-per-dollar with nonfederal funds.

"It was a long time coming, but I'm pleased to say we can now work to provide the I&M Canal with crucial funding for its operations," Weller said in a statement.

After the president's approval, the next step will be appropriating funds in the 2008 fiscal year budget.

"We are very much excited," said Ana Koval, president and CEO of the CCA, which will be in charge of raising the matching funds.

"It is very good news. But, this is not the last step. Now we need to get the appropriations for the funding," she said.

Back in July, Koval said when the House passed the bill a management plan -- with the 49 communities along the canal -- would be developed to outline priorities, which could include water sports and education programs.

The I&M Canal is a 96-mile waterway running from Chicago through Will and Grundy counties and westward to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The corridor was America's charter National Heritage area created by Congress in 1984. From 1984 to 2004, the federal I&M Commission managed the corridor and partnered with the canal association and others to implement projects and programs involving the canal.

"The I&M Canal is an important part of our history and for the last two decades has served as an important economic development tool to attract tourists and visitors," Weller said. "As people visit communities along the canal, they'll shop in our stores, and eat in our restaurants, and that's a stimulus for the local economy. By preserving a part of our past, we've helped contribute to our future."

 

Comments (1) >>

Alan said:

Standard Bush admin tactic: 1. Starve an agency (Fish and Wildlife Service ecological services offices, for example) for money, forcing staff reductions, even closure of satellite offices. 2. Then blame the lower level of agency work on an inability to get the job done. 3. Then urge privatization. A simple formula, one that's well-used by anti-government (mostly radical right-wingers) legislators and other wingnuts. And the more conservation and wild Nature advocates that understand this, the better we'll be at exposing it for what it really is.

October 06, 2006

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