Friday, October 24, 1997

Texas Soil and Water districts oppose Clinton's AHR initiative

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

Have you heard the acronym "AHR" as of yet?

If you haven't, you likely will.

It stands for American Heritage Rivers -- and the issue of such designations is stirring up a hornet's nest.

In fact, the Texas Soil and Water Conservation District directors already have gone on record as being opposed to the AHR initiative being proposed by the Clinton Administration.

The directors, representing 216 districts in Texas, do not support any petition for the federal designation of an American Heritage Rivers program or any river within the boundaries of their respective jurisdictions.

SWCD directors suspect a hidden agenda.

Meeting this month at their annual meeting, the SWCD directors said the AHR work group is unrealistic in its claim that the purpose of the AHR Initiative is support communities within their existing local laws and regulations to achieve a "greater efficiency" for all federal programs that affect the nation's rivers.

The AHR work group consist of representatives of several federal agencies.

An opportunity to intervene in local matters

The directors expressed fear that the initiative actually poses an opportunity for the federal government to intervene into local matters, local authority and the management of private property.

District officials emphasized that voluntary cooperation by private property owners always has been the principle behind many successful local conservation efforts.

The directors noted that the initiative actually works against what they claim that they are trying to accomplish with their programs. This is because of concerns regarding private property rights, land use and the unanswered questions of whether participants could ever choose to discontinue their participation in the program at some future date.

How AHR plan would work

Under the AHR Initiative, rivers would be designated as an "American Heritage River" after meeting basic criteria, completing an application form and being selected by an "interagency committee."

Once designated as such, the designated river would receive focused support to get existing federal programs and services.

The Federal AHR work group asserts that communities may enlist the aid of a "River Navigator" to ensure efficient access to the federal agencies and to simplify and streamline the delivery of these programs.

They also promise that designated rivers and their communities would get a commitment from federal agencies to act as "Good Neighbors" in making decisions that affect local communities.

Each river also supposedly would become a laboratory for reinvention of federal programs and delivery of services that will support a community's revitalization efforts.

About 900 soil and water conservation district directors attended the 57th annual meeting.