Clinton Promotes Effort To Protect American Rivers But Chenoweth Opposes Program, Says It Threatens Property Rights, Could Hurt Industry

Declaring rivers “the lifeblood of our nation,” President Clinton launched an effort Thursday to designate 10 waterways as “American heritage rivers” that would receive extra federal attention.

A designation under the program would allow communities, through a liaison called a “river navigator,” to tap existing federal resources and expertise in protecting and restoring waterways.

The first designations are expected to be made early next year.

Although local communities would have to seek the designation for specific rivers, some Western lawmakers oppose the program, fearing it would lead to the government having a greater say in the use of private land.

Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, who chairs the House Resources subcommittee on forest health, called it “yet another layer of a nebulous and unauthorized bureaucracy” that could threaten property rights.

Her subcommittee will hold a hearing Sept. 24 on her legislation to eliminate the program’s funding.

Chenoweth recently led a tour of Western states, during which she hoped to show that programs such as the American Heritage Rivers Initiative could hurt industry.

But Clinton said the American Heritage Rivers Initiative, created by executive order, is “a big deal to millions of people” who care about great cities built on riverbanks. He said that when he leaves office, he wants to work with a project to “restore and enhance” development along the Arkansas River in Little Rock, Ark.

“Rivers have always been the lifeblood of our nations,” Clinton said. “They nourish our cities; they feed our soils; they allow us to expand our territory in commerce. They permit us - millions upon millions of us - to fish. … This is a big part of what we are.”

Efforts to get an American heritage river designation already are under way for at least five rivers:

The Yellowstone River in Montana.

The Willamette River in Oregon.

The upper Mississippi River, which flows from northern Minnesota to St. Louis.

The Connecticut River in New England.

The French Broad River in North Carolina and Tennessee.

The president had planned to launch the program with a degree of pomp at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate on the banks of the Potomac River in nearby Virginia. But rainstorms prevented the trip.

Though he didn’t have the majestic Potomac as a backdrop, Clinton used it anyway to illustrate a fate that has befallen many American rivers.

In Washington’s day, Clinton said, the Potomac was one of the world’s most beautiful rivers. But the Potomac that Clinton saw as a student at Georgetown University in the late 1960s was so polluted that the crew team had to get typhoid shots as a precaution.

“Today, thanks to the cleanup efforts, … the Potomac is a genuine, legitimate source of national pride,” the president said. “All across the country, we’re seeing this kind of river renaissance.”

The White House said most of the concerns about the program have been alleviated, but congressional aides said the White House has not sufficiently addressed the concerns of private landowners.

They fear the program would open the way for federal intervention in the way they use their property, and they want more details on what would happen to their land if a community begins a river revitalization project nearby.

“It’s not gone away. Congress still has its concerns about it. A lot of people directly affected by this still are very worried about it,” said Dan Smith, a Republican staffer on the House Resources subcommittee on national parks, forests and lands.