Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Thursday, August 16, 2007

Reps. Walz, Kind push Mississippi restoration

By Reid Magney / Lee Newspapers

Rain Wednesday scuttled a photo opportunity on the Mississippi River for U.S. Reps. Ron Kind and Tim Walz, but it didn’t dampen their enthusiasm for plans to protect the river.

“What this will mean is the largest ecosystem restoration investment for the upper Mississippi River basin in the history of our county, up to $1.7 billion, which we think is long overdue,” Kind said at a news conference at the U.S. Geological Survey on French Island.

The La Crosse Democrat was talking about the Water Resources Development Act, multi-billion dollar legislation for water projects throughout the country. The House recently passed a compromise version of the bill that now goes back to the Senate for approval.

President Bush hasn’t decided whether to sign or veto the bill, Kind said.

The bill also contains money for expanded lock and dams on the river around Illinois, which are controversial, but Kind said money for restoration of the upper Mississippi is very important and not pork-barrel spending.

Walz, a Democratic freshman congressman from Mankato, Minn., said Kind has mentored him on river issues. He said Kind’s leadership helped move the water resources bill after it was delayed the last eight years.

Walz said the bill has good bipartisan support.

“The ideology of the politics get brushed away on this, and the facts and the science of what we’re moving for are what people are focusing on,” Walz said.

The morning news conference was to be in Brownsville, Minn., to show off island and habitat construction work in Walz’s district. The wet weather forced it to be shifted to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center on French Island, in Kind’s district.

Kind and Walz tried to save Delta Queen

U.S. Reps. Ron Kind and Tim Walz both said Wednesday they did their best to get an exemption for the Delta Queen steamboat, which occasionally comes through La Crosse, from federal safety rules that will force it out of commission after the 2008 season.

The steamboat, built in 1926 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, has a steel hull. But its decks and superstructure are wood, and a federal law passed in 1966 forbids any vessel made primarily of wood that operates from a U.S. port to carry more than 50 overnight passengers.

“I voted in committee for the exemption, and my reasoning was ... for historical preservation,” Walz said. He said he spoke to people who work on the boat, and they said the boat was safely maintained.

Kind said he helped organize a “bipartisan letter trying to get another exemption for the Delta Queen, but obviously there were some fire safety concerns, which is why it was ultimately denied.”

“The last thing you want is some accident to occur, and some fire to break out, and innocent people are affected,” Kind said. “It was disappointing we weren’t able to keep that historical ship operating.”

Reid Magney writes for the La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune.