Restore the Delta commentary on the National Heritage Area Designation: Be careful what you ask for!

From Restore the Delta, posted at IndyBay.org:

“In the June 15 edition of the Restore the Delta newsletter, we reported that Senator Feinstein was introducing federal legislation to create a National Heritage Area (NHA) in the Delta.

Early this year, the Delta Counties Coalition (representing the five Delta counties) sent a group of representatives to Washington, D.C. They went to request $2.5 million in technical assistance to keep track of the planning processes in the Delta and to provide increased local input. Counties need to closely monitor and provide feedback on the BDCP, the DSC, and the DPC, and that takes a lot of staff and resources. While in D.C., the coalition representatives visited Dianne Feinstein’s office and requested some help from their Senator.

This NHA bill being drafted by Feinstein is the result of that request. National Heritage Area Designation was not specifically requested.

Delta people question Senator Feinstein’s actions. We’ve seen her efforts to suspend the ESA and to facilitate water transfers for export contractors. That is why we don’t have much confidence that she has the Delta’s best interests in mind when she proposes a NHA for the Delta.

If Senator Feinstein wanted to build local support for her Legislative proposal, she should have engaged the local interests and started this process months ago with the public workshops and outreach that I am told are a prerequisite for National Heritage Area designation. She should have found out what locals hoped to get in the way of assurances and protection. That should have happened before she released bill language. … “

Continue reading this commentary from Restore the Delta by clicking here.

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