Designation prompts praise, concern of federal intrusion
By LARRY SWISHER, For The Capital Press , 8/8/98
WASHINGTON - President Clinton's designation of the Willamette River as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers will help Oregon and local communities in their efforts to clean up the increasingly urbanized waterway, according to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
But members of Congress who oppose the new rivers program predicted it will only add to bureaucracy and could become a "land grab" by the federal government.
Controversy has swirled around the rivers initiative since Clinton announced it in early 1997. Clinton designated the first 14 American Heritage Rivers on July 30, based on recommendations from a special advisory committee that reviewed 126 candidates.
The panel rejected some prominent at-risk rivers, including the Columbia and Missouri, because of political opposition from members of Congress and local government.
Besides the attention of the designation itself, each river will have the services of a full-time federal official dubbed a 'river navigator" to help communities tap into federal programs, funds and other resources.
Those could include loans and grants for economic development or small businesses, pollution clean up funds and help mapping rivers from the U.S. Geological Survey, officials said.
The first batch of heritage rivers will serve as a test of whether the new White House initiative can overcome criticism and fulfill a promise that local officials will drive planning, clean up and economic revitalization efforts.
No decision has been made on whether to launch a second round of designations. The president and White House officials stressed the program would not result in new federal regulations or restrict private property.
'There will be no federal mandates, no restrictions on property holders' rights," Clinton said in a speech near Raleigh, N.C. "Our goal instead is to help local groups enhance historic rivers and make them attractive and commercially vibrant even as we preserve environmental characteristics."
Kitzhaber welcomed the Willamette's listing, saying it would help a drive he launched earlier this year to develop a restoration plan for the entire basin "that seeks a return to the clean
water and healthy fish runs of the past.'
In a statement, the governor said achieving these goals will rely on voluntary, cooperative efforts, and said his office would 'work hard in the months ahead to make sure that federal officials respond to local concerns and issues."
Naming a "river navigator' is especially useful, he said, in that it will help identify federal resources and coordinate federal action to support existing and future clean-up efforts.
But Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who fought to prevent the Willamette's designation, complained the Clinton administration ignored objections from him, Rep. Bob Smith R-Ore., and half of Oregon's counties, including four of the nine counties that border the river - Lane, Polk, Yamhill and Linn.
The program does not entitle the state or local communities to more federal funds and help, Smith said, other than a $100,000-per-year official. But he said it expands the federal government's role in state natural resource management, calling it "another federal land grab attempt." He said the program was also vague and open-ended.
"It's anyone's guess what the future ramifications of the program will be. The next administration in the White House could interpret this initiative in a number of unforeseen ways that stand to undermine the efforts of local officials and many other Oregonians,' Smith said.
He appeared to be alluding to Vice President Al Gore's presidential aspirations for the 2000 election. Gore is an environmental advocate who has played a leading role in the heritage rivers and other administration initiatives. Gore announced the selection of the 14 rivers on July 27 and accompanied Clinton to North Carolina for the official proclamation later in the week.
"Cities and towns along these rivers will be able to tap programs to help fight pollution, build greenways and paths and protect watersheds," he said.
The citizens' advisory committee kept its selections to the minimum 10 rivers, including the Willamette. Chosen to reflect a diversity of community proposals, river types and geography, they are the Upper Mississippi, Connecticut, Detroit, Hudson and Potomac rivers; the Hanalei River in Hawaii; New River in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia; Rio Grande in Texas and St. Johns River in Florida. The president added the lower Mississippi and three other rivers in Ohio, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania.
Advisory committee Chairman Dayton Duncan said one of the strengths of the program is that it is community based.
There aren't going to be any new regulations. There's not going to be any land takings," Duncan told reporters. "Basically, it is listening to the local communities and the local organizations who are struggling to try to reinvigorate their relationship with the rivers. It's just there to help them tap into programs that already exist."
About 200 members of Congress, 21 governors and 500 mayors wrote in support of the program, far outweighing opposition, officials said.
"In my mind, it's odd that ... complaints have arisen, because the very things that they're talking about are specifically addressed" in presidential orders, he said.
Elliot Diringer, spokesman for the president's Council On Environmental Quality, said, "What they get primarily is a river navigator, " a federal employee who will be designated to serve as a liaison between the government and the community.
The official can help the community refine its plans and strategies and then help identify existing federal resources and programs that they can then take advantage of in carrying out their plans, Diringer said.,