Don’t ‘High Line’ Georgetown’s C&O Canal

[namfos]

https://wapo.st/2Nkbdxb 

Congress needs to appropriate the funds and NPS really should do something about the remainder of the canal, esp. Fletchers, FIRST. Just my opinion.

Mark 

[Yambag Nelson]

This sounds like a completely idiotic idea but what is wrong with the rest of the canal other than it often has no water?

[Tom Steeley]

Milton Friedman once said, "if you put government in charge of a desert there would be a shortage of sand."  I guess the corrollary to that is that if you put government in charge of a canal, there will be a shortage of water.

On Sun, Jun 30, 2019, 3:20 PM Yambag Nelson <northstreet...@gmail.com> wrote:

This sounds like a completely idiotic idea but what is wrong with the rest of the canal other than it often has no water?

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[namfos]

Plus, given NPS is chronically underfunded to maintain what they already manage, how would they manage the maintenance, repairs and operations for a "high-lined" canal in Georgetown?  I'd surely love to see more water in the canal.

Mark

[Miles]

This op-ed is one of the stupider things the Post has published. After I read it, I went link diving and found the actual proposal under discussion. You can download it here: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=177&projectID=70176&documentID=93706

The plan is limited to Georgetown and does not dewater the canal. The goal seems to be to create something like Riverwalk in San Antonio, which is a fun place. If you haven't been, check out the movie Cloak & Dagger with Dabney Coleman. A chase scene was filmed there, if I recall. 

Back to the op-ed. The author's actual objections seem to be: 1) they will plant flowers; 2) they will pave some of the path. That's his whole beef with the plan, at least the substantive parts.

I don't know what to say to #1, but according to the presentation #2 is necessary to widen the path in places so two people can walk side by side (creating an overhang in some spots, which can't be done with dirt) and to ensure accessibility for mobility devices -- wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, etc. My kid just stopped using her stroller but this plan sounds like the kind of place I would have loved to visit when I was SAHDing her. (The tide lock hammocks look awesome, too - we would go tomorrow if they were there.) But also, accessibility is the law.

I totally agree with Mark -- Congress should give NPS the funds to fix Fletcher's and take better care of the canal. But the push for this plan is coming from private enterprise in Georgetown, and it looks like the funding will be a public/private partnership. I reckon if we ponied up several million to fix Fletcher's, the government could find the rest. But we don't have that kind of pull. 

On that point, I'm going to invoke the name of Founder Dan: he used to talk all the time about how we want more people to use the Potomac, so that more people would care about it and help us protect it. Seems like that's true for the canal as well: the more people who visit the canal and enjoy it, the more likely NPS is to get funding to keep it in good shape. For a lot of people in the area, the canal is a stinky ditch running through a not-pleasant part of Georgetown. If they saw it as a unique recreational opportunity worth protecting, we'd be closer to fixing Fletcher's.

I don't see that this plan degrades fishing quality in the canal. If anything, it seems like it will improve the habitat, though granted it might be harder to fish if more people are around. But there's 184.5 miles of canal to fish, and this only affects one mile in Georgetown.

As for Milton Friedman,  a few things to remember:

1) The push for this plan is coming from private enterprise in Georgetown.

2) The C&O canal was created by the Federal government.

3) The government owns/manages plenty of deserts.

Miles

[Daniel Davala]

Well stated Miles, well stated indeed.  Thank you!

Dan

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[namfos]

Miles:

Thanks for the digging. As to a Fletchers public/private partnership, we need somebody who can put us in touch with David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group. ;-)

Mark

[Jamie Carracher]

The proposal knocks out a good fishing spot at the confluence of the creek and canal. Speaking as someone who for years only had a bike to get around, that stinks because I used to fish that spot all the time and there aren't that many places that are great for fly anglers within biking distance. For me, the canal, rock creek and the Tidal Basin were my only options.

But in all seriousness, the plan looks pretty good. The one thing that is worth thinking about is making sure anglers maintain access as areas develop. While I agree that giving the river more attention is good overall, I do get the sense that us anglers are sometimes viewed as nuisances like skateboarders were when I was a teen. I'm surprised how many times I've been hassled by a volunteer, random person or even a cop when fishing an urban location. People can act like you're out there up to no good when you're just trying to catch a dang bass. I know the angling organizations are focused on preservation of rivers and streams, as they should, but there might be an opportunity to expand beyond that to issues of urban access, the same way cyclists have gotten bike lanes over the years. 

I also hope the funding is far more titled toward private than tax money since the local businesses and real estate companies along the canal stand a lot to benefit. I don't think it's fair for taxpayers to subsidize different parts of town competing with each other (Wharf, waterfront, etc.). I feel the same way about stadiums and luring corporate HQs. 

[Tom Steeley]

You can't make this stuff up...

https://globalnews.ca/news/4274233/world-running-out-of-sand-black-market/

[Miles]

But not desert sand. ;) 

[Tom Steeley]

Lol yeah who knew

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[N Elgas]

I like the Idea,  the ditch in GT is not nice in its current condition (or condition prior to being drained)  If we are honest about the fishing opportunities in this man made section of drainage ditch,   they seem valuable only because the district as a whole has very limited resources for those with out a boat.  All this is going to do is provide more reasons for non fisherman to care about the river.  The Potomac River keepers office sits right above this project,  Id be curios if they have a position on this yet.  

[namfos]

More, this from Greater Greater Washington:

"Plans for Georgetown’s C&O Canal meet misanthropic planning attitudes"

https://ggwash.org/view/72998/georgetowns-c-o-canal-meets-misanthropic-planning

[N Elgas]

So its the Committee of 100 that are preventing progress in this city,  it never ceases to amaze me how stupid the politics and people in this town can be.   The current plan may be too much,  but if anyone thinks that preserving an old industrial ditch for the sake of history is the right choice they need their head examined.  I can understand not wanting floating fire pits (although that sounds awesome!!)  but right now you cant walk the path with out jumping over a puddle of hobo pee or or almost being pushed in by some bong hitting hippy thats not paying attention.  You know what would keep you from being pushed in by bong hitting hippies?  A bench for the hippy to sit on!! which I'm sure is included in the new plan.  I bet the 100 is also the reason i cant take the metro to GT...I know lets scrap the park that everyone would use and build a freaking Gondola.

[spst...@gmail.com]

You just don’t see enough posts to this list using the word “hippy” liberally; it refers to someone with wide hips, for what it’s worth 😉

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_hippie

 

-Sean

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[John Hammill]

Well doesn’t hitting a bong (while also sucking down the trust fund supporting it) give said bong hitter the munchies? Ergo...

I never say anything serious here because others say it better. But there is nothing more irritating than bored and wealthy busybodies. Thank God they didn’t win on the big fight for the purple line. Oh the horror of having to see a plebeian serf train whilst sipping a martini at the clubhouse on the turn before the back nine! Outrage, outrage!

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[Miles Townes]

I'm digging the class warfare - in a flyfishing forum, no less. Chum the rich! 

Miles 


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[John Hammill]

😀

Hey I actually like golf but I’ve always felt sorry for Jeeves! And also for maids in Langeley Park or PG country taking a bus to a bus to a 45 minute red line ride to a bus to a big house in Bethesda or Potomac.

Now Miles, isn’t chum a form of dreadfully simple cheating? I mean, that’s like putting a piece of corn on a Royal Wulffe after having given up quartering upstream with wet flies in a very cold stream in Scotland!

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[namfos]

Or as PJ O'Rourke would have it, Eat the Rich!

[N Elgas]

The irony of the class warfare on a flyfishing page was not lost on me.  I do think that it is extremely funny that the old fuddy duddies are against fixing the eyesore of the canal,  but on thier website are fighting to remove the billsboard from the capital power plant along 295....cause one less verizon billboard would make a 6 lane highway in SE so much prettier.  

I promise that everyone of the 100 men on this committee own more Orvis shirts than everyone on this page combined,  but not a single flyrod. 

On Sunday, June 30, 2019 at 11:22:26 AM UTC-4, namfos wrote:

[John Hammill]

How about artisanal bamboo 48 foot sloops if not flyrods? If not they need a new Robin Hood account and better trading habits and due diligence.

Yeah I bought a Clearwater 8 foot 4 weight on clearance once at Orvis in Arlington and the guy ahead of me bought a few clothes for over a grand. Sadly, I bet they were too tight.

Sent from my iPhone

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