Coast Guard wants to kick boats off Potomac River when Trump is golfing
Source: Washington Post
Coast Guard wants to kick boats off Potomac River when Trump is golfing
With the Trump National Golf Club clubhouse in the background, Camp Calleva kayak instructor Steve McKone helps one of his campers while teaching a lesson on the Potomac River on Monday. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)
By Peter Jamison July 17 at 3:56 PM
RILEYS LOCK, MD. The Trump family has offended many sectors of establishment Washington since their arrival in the nations capital, from Langleys spymasters to mansion-dwellers in the Districts Kalorama neighborhood. ... But 30 miles north of the White House, a conflict is now brewing on the banks of the Potomac River that pits the presidents interests against those of a very different if no less zealous constituency. This one is armed with paddles.
Citing security concerns, the U.S. Coast Guard says it is adopting a policy of periodically cutting off access to roughly two miles of the Potomac where it borders Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. ... The restrictions would clear the water of canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, sailboats, jet-skis, motorboats and anglers when Trump or other senior officials of his government decide to spend a day on the back nine.
The buffer zone is stoking intense concern and opposition among recreational users of the river, who range from Olympic athletes to injured soldiers. The proposed shore-to-shore security area includes Rileys Lock, the embarkation point for a popular summer camp and a kayaking program for wounded and disabled veterans.
Its just heartbreaking, said John Deitle, 41, a former marine who served a combined five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and receives treatment at Walter Reed for lung problems he says are related to chemical exposure. ... Deitle paddles on this stretch of the Potomac with Team River Runner, a nonprofit that caters to wounded vets. On Sunday afternoon, he stood in a life vest at his put-in point on Seneca Creek, a faded Teufel Hunden tattoo showing on one of his bare upper arms. ... Granted, its his golf course, Deitle said. But he has other golf courses.
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Peter Jamison writes about politics and government in the District of Columbia. Before joining The Washington Post he worked at The Los Angeles Times and The Tampa Bay Times. Follow @petejamison
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/coast-guard-wants-to-kick-boats-off-potomac-river-when-trump-is-golfing/2017/07/17/8ac56828-6afd-11e7-9c15-177740635e83_story.html
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As the tweet makes clear, it's not the entire Potomac River. Rather, it's the part of the Potomac River fronted by ***** National Golf Club. You know, the site of that famous Civil War battle. The day the Potomac was renamed "the River of Blood."
I expect later editions will make this clear, but I have to go with the headline I have.
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Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold
New: Coast Guard wants to kick boats off 2 miles of the Potomac River when Trump is golfing
Link to tweet
= new reply since forum marked as read
Kind of surprising. He's such a stickler for accuracy.
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015 by Dale Peskin
In Donald Trump’s world, there’s a magic kingdom called Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C. Although it is actually located in Sterling, the presidential candidate insists his kingdom is in Washington, about 25 miles downstream, where he covets a stately, white house on the National Mall.
Trump indulges his fantasy with a castle (clubhouse) that sits on a bluff overlooking Lowes Island in the Potomac. He’s clear-cut 400 trees along the banks of the river to provide an unobstructed view. ... Trump has spent millions turning 800 acres along the Potomac into Trumpland. Now the master marketer who’s leading the GOP presidential polls is re-interpreting history.
Unveiling his new golf course on the property earlier this year, Trump paused between the 14th hole and the 15th tee at his monument to history: a plaque designating “The River of Blood” at a section of the Potomac on Trumpland. ... “Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot,” the inscription reads. “The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as ‘The River of Blood.’” ... The inscription, beneath his family crest and above Trump’s full name, concludes: “It is my great honor to have preserved this important section of the Potomac River!”
Now for the real world. Not much of what Trump says is true. ... “No. Uh-uh. No way. Nothing like that ever happened there,” said Richard Gillespie, executive director of the Mosby Heritage Area Association, a historical preservation and education group devoted to a 1,800-square-mile section of the Northern Virginia Piedmont, including the Lowes Island site. Gillespie clarified Loudoun County history for The Times-Mirror and The New York Times, which were fact-checking Trump’s claims.
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Times-Mirror reporter Hannah Dellinger contributed to this story.
BY RACHEL SADON IN NEWS ON JUL 17, 2017 6:14 PM
Attorney and competitive kayaker Adam Van Grack was paddling up from the Seneca Breaks on the Potomac River earlier this month when a motor boat sped up to his side. Two armed men told Van Grack that he needed to get to the other side of the river—immediately.
Every time that President Donald Trump decides to play golf at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, one of the river's most popular kayaking and canoeing spots—used by children all the way up to Olympians—is disrupted. As the Coast Guard moves to implement a permanent security zone in the area, boaters fear that it will severely curtail enjoyment of the area for hundreds of people at a time.
"Shutting down the river so Trump can play golf is impacting a lot of people, not only us recreational paddlers who are out here for fun," says Susan Sherrod, the chairman of the Canoe Cruisers Association, a club and advocacy organization in the area. Several members of the U.S. canoe and kayak team use it regularly for training and Team River Runner paddles in the zone with wounded veterans. A boating school sits on the Maryland shore, and dozens of groups come from outside of the area come to teach kayaking on this section of the river, which offers both flat water and Class 1 and 2 rapids. Motorboats, stand-up paddle boarders, and fisherman are also common sights.
But when the president or other high-ranking officials decide to play golf at Trump National, the Coast Guard sets up a temporary security zone at the request of the Secret Service that places about two miles of the river off limits. ... Since March 24, they've already done so five times. Given the president's voracious golf habit, it seems all but certain that he'll return. ... Foreseeing the need for future security zones, the Coast Guard has implemented an interim rule in the Federal Register, effective July 10, that allows for a complete shutdown of the river to any use, motorized or non-motorized, between Sharpshin Island and Violette's Lock. The Coast Guard is currently taking comments before making it a permanent rule.
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The permanent security zone proposed by the Coast Guard, above. The Canoe Cruisers Association is proposing a less restrictive area that would still allow for use of the river closer to the Maryland shore. (Courtesy of the CCA)
