By DEXTER DUGGAN
PHOENIX — An Arizona U.S. congressman said massive public opposition forced a federal bureau to retreat from its arbitrary plan to further restrict recreational use of Lake Havasu, which is a popular water-sports site along Arizona’s western boundary and neighbor to reconstructed London Bridge.
Most of that boundary is formed by the Colorado River, on whose bank opposite Arizona are Nevada and California.
Conservative Republican Cong. Paul Gosar, whose largely rural Fourth District includes almost all of the Grand Canyon State’s “West Coast,” said in a June 16 statement:
“This victory should put all federal agencies on notice: the American people are done with big government overreach. We refuse to tolerate lawless, unelected bureaucrats imposing their own political agenda on our communities.”
In his printed statement, Gosar boldfaced the words, “the American people are done with big government overreach.”
Gosar also is a Catholic and a dentist.
The Wanderer asked a conservative Arizona Republican political consultant, Constantin Querard, if he thought this turn of events showed that people still are able to make a difference by standing up for their rights, even when opposing the Obama government.
“People can still make a real difference with their voices, particularly when they do so in large numbers,” Querard replied. “The lesson here is for people to get more involved and more vocal, because we can still save things if we hurry.”
The controversy is the familiar sort of face-off between aggressive environmentalists and people trying to enjoy spacious Western settings.
Fun-seekers from Arizona, California, and Nevada generate significant economic activity for Lake Havasu City, a town that also draws tourists to its authentic London Bridge, reconstructed straight from the Thames River and rededicated in 1971.
Gosar’s statement said that “the people of Lake Havasu City scored a monumental victory in the fight against bureaucratic overreach. Following the massive outcry from local stakeholders, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would withdraw its proposed boating restrictions for Lake Havasu.
“Standing together, as a unified community, we were able to block a terrible proposal put forth by the service that aimed to close significant areas on Lake Havasu to tubing, water skiing, fishing, and wakeboarding,” Gosar continued.
“Ultimately, service leaders could not hide from the thousands of voices demanding that the will of the people be heard.”
Fish and Wildlife is a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The conservative, pro-life Gosar couldn’t be more different than another Arizona congressman, far-left Democrat and radical pro-abortionist Raul Grijalva, who represents southern Arizona’s Third Congressional District.
Just to mention in passing: Grijalva has been spending time attacking what he sees as militia-type right-wing groups’ threat to public lands, not the far greater power of Barack Obama’s government bureaucrats to suppress citizens’ liberties.
Grijalva’s district includes a significant portion of Tucson, an unrepresentatively liberal slice of Arizona.
Providing some “quick facts” about the situation, Gosar said nearly three million visitors vacation at Lake Havasu each year, with tourists spending more than $200 million and supporting “nearly 4,000 full-time equivalent jobs.”
Earlier in the controversy, the May 26 hardcopy issue of The Wanderer reported on Gosar’s battle against Fish and Wildlife under the front-page headline, “From Boating to Battlefield, Federalism a Forgotten Solution for Happier U.S.”
In a May 10 news release, Gosar had noted that “more than 1,000 passionate citizens showed up last week in Lake Havasu City in opposition to unjustified boating restrictions. . . . This type of tone-deaf bureaucratic behavior has built an unprecedented level of distrust and frustration between the federal government and the American people.”
Both Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and McCain’s major challenger in the August 30 Arizona GOP primary election, family-practice physician Kelli Ward, expressed opposition to the Fish and Wildlife plan.
Ward, who is running as a constitutional Republican conservative, said in a June 22 statement to The Wanderer:
“Why is there a federal agency devoted to Fish and Wildlife? It’s not in the enumerated powers of the Constitution (Article I, Section 8). Furthermore, God gave mankind the Earth to use and enjoy for His glory. As a conservative champion for Arizona, not D.C., I will always fight for limited government and local control.”
A story posted June 16 at Lake Havasu City’s Today’s News-Herald quoted McCain:
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of local and regional officials, business leaders, and citizens writing, calling, and protesting these misguided restrictions, USFWS heard loud and clear that the community will not stand for such unilateral actions.
“I applaud the entire community for coming together to fight for their interests, and I vow to monitor USFWS’s ongoing dialogue to ensure it honors its pledge to work closely with local leaders before taking any additional actions.”
Today’s News-Herald also reported on June 16: “President and CEO of the Lake Havasu Marine Association, Jim Salscheider, said it’s still too early to celebrate the decision, but one thing is clear. ‘I think (the Fish and Wildlife’s) reputation is trashed forever. I don’t know why anyone would treat them ethically; they don’t treat us ethically,’ he said.”
Suspicion remains about what the Fish and Wildlife Service still may do.
Moreover, Gosar said in his June 16 statement, the bureau had not yet reopened a Lake Havasu area it unlawfully closed in May 2015.
“This terrible . . . mandate was announced and implemented just two days before Memorial Day (2015) weekend — an economically vital tourist weekend for Lake Havasu City. Further, it was done behind closed doors, with no notice and no opportunity for public comment. A Freedom of Information Act request from my office revealed this action was not based on merit or science,” Gosar said.
“The Arizona Game and Fish Department submitted formal comments stating that the service did not ‘justify this additional restriction, and that the impacts to recreation could be significant’,” he added.
Gosar said the fight isn’t over to keep the lake open for all users.
“The service has still not reopened the original half-mile area known as ‘the Ryde Spot’…that was unlawfully closed on May 20, 2015. If service leaders haven’t learned yet, they soon will. We will not give up, we will not forget, and We The People will not put up with lawless bureaucrats anymore,” Gosar said.
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