salecreekaviator
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<h1>UPDATE: President signs law allowing Cumberland River fishing access</h1><h6><div><div class="ad_88x31"><div id="adcontainer___gelement_adbanner_1_0"><div id="__gelement_10"></div></div></div></div></h6><div class="ody-article"><div id="article-bodytext" class="ody-article-bodytext"><div style="position: relative" id="ody-mainphoto" class="ody-photo-land ody-photo"><div class="ody-land-nonfullwith"><div class="ody-bottomdiv">
<div class="ody-buypic">Purchase Image </div></div></div><h6>Harry Donnelly, Dalton Isder and Marty Beaver fish near Old Hickory Dam in January. The Army Corps of Engineers recently prohibited such access. / Mark Zaleski / file / The Tennessean</h6></div><div class="ody-bo-sm "><div class="ody-byline"><div id="ody-byline-written-by"><h6>Written by</h6><h5>Duane W. Gang </h5><h5 class="ody-line2">The Tennessean</h5></div></div></div><div id="artpagination"><!--individual: 8 numChar :2120
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Anglers in Tennessee and Kentucky can once again get close to Cumberland River dams to find fish.</p>
President Obama on Monday signed into law legislation prohibiting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from putting in place boating and fishing restrictions immediately below the 10 dams the agency operates on the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The ban applies for the next two years.</p>
“Now the Corps is required, by law, to stop wasting taxpayer dollars and ignoring elected officials who are standing up for fishermen,” U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said in a statement.</p>
Alexander clashed with the Corps over the issue and pushed the agency for months to back off from its plan before sponsoring the legislation. The bill, known as the “Freedom to Fish Act,” passed the House and Senate last month.</p>
The bill delegates enforcement below the dams to state agencies and would ensure that boaters and anglers still have some access — when conditions are most safe — to the tailwaters of the dams. The Corps’ plan would have put in place permanent restrictions.</p>
When the Corps releases water from the dams, the water immediately below becomes turbulent. Since last year, the Corps had worked on a plan to prohibit boats and anglers from getting too close, citing safety as its top priority. The agency in April began putting in place signs and buoys warning boaters about the restrictions.</p>
Anglers opposed the restrictions and Republican and Democratic lawmakers from across Tennessee and Kentucky urged the Corps to compromise and still allow some level of access. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which patrols other areas of the Cumberland and its lakes, had vowed not to enforce the restrictions.</p>
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District spokesman Bill Peoples released a statement saying the agency will comply with the legislation.</p>
Peoples said by <span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap"><span style="border-bottom: #00cc00 1px solid; border-left: transparent 0px; padding-bottom: 1px !important; background-color: transparent; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; color: #009900; font-size: 100%; border-top: transparent 0px; font-weight: normal; border-right: transparent 0px; text-decoration: underline !important; padding-top: 0px !important" class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan">email</span>
</span> that the Corps will work with Tennessee and Kentucky officials to implement the law. With signs and buoys up near many of the dams already up, Peoples said the local agency officials will seek guidance from Corps headquarters on how to proceed.</p>
“Enforcement is now a responsibility of the state,” he said.</p>
The sponsors of the legislation also included U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, and Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Frog.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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Anglers in Tennessee and Kentucky can once again get close to Cumberland River dams to find fish.</p>
President Obama on Monday signed into law legislation prohibiting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from putting in place boating and fishing restrictions immediately below the 10 dams the agency operates on the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The ban applies for the next two years.</p>
“Now the Corps is required, by law, to stop wasting taxpayer dollars and ignoring elected officials who are standing up for fishermen,” U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said in a statement.</p>
Alexander clashed with the Corps over the issue and pushed the agency for months to back off from its plan before sponsoring the legislation. The bill, known as the “Freedom to Fish Act,” passed the House and Senate last month.</p>
The bill delegates enforcement below the dams to state agencies and would ensure that boaters and anglers still have some access — when conditions are most safe — to the tailwaters of the dams. The Corps’ plan would have put in place permanent restrictions.</p>
When the Corps releases water from the dams, the water immediately below becomes turbulent. Since last year, the Corps had worked on a plan to prohibit boats and anglers from getting too close, citing safety as its top priority. The agency in April began putting in place signs and buoys warning boaters about the restrictions.</p>
Anglers opposed the restrictions and Republican and Democratic lawmakers from across Tennessee and Kentucky urged the Corps to compromise and still allow some level of access. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which patrols other areas of the Cumberland and its lakes, had vowed not to enforce the restrictions.</p>
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District spokesman Bill Peoples released a statement saying the agency will comply with the legislation.</p>
Peoples said by <span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap"><span style="border-bottom: #00cc00 1px solid; border-left: transparent 0px; padding-bottom: 1px !important; background-color: transparent; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; color: #009900; font-size: 100%; border-top: transparent 0px; font-weight: normal; border-right: transparent 0px; text-decoration: underline !important; padding-top: 0px !important" class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan">email</span>
</span> that the Corps will work with Tennessee and Kentucky officials to implement the law. With signs and buoys up near many of the dams already up, Peoples said the local agency officials will seek guidance from Corps headquarters on how to proceed.</p>“Enforcement is now a responsibility of the state,” he said.</p>
The sponsors of the legislation also included U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, and Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Frog.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>