Ohio DUers: call your state rep, oppose GOP's Lake Erie Shoreline Giveaway

Representative Tim Grendell is advocating that the state deed coastal waters of Lake Erie from the state to the adjacent landowners. Grendell is backed by a "property rights" lobby (who has oddly kept a low profile with respect to names and phone numbers).

Currently, the state owns the land from the high water mark on out to the state border. Grendell wishes to give the state land to the adjacent property owners all the way out to the historic low water mark--this mark was set during the "Dust Bowl" era and is six feet below normal! . This means that they will be able to build jetties and breakwalls far out in the lake. This will cause problems such as disrupting the littoral currents and causing enhanced erosion on adjacent properties and silting over of stream and harbor entrances. This will cause disruption of fish spawning and hatching areas.

Look at HB218 here: You can see all the strike-throughs in the Ohio laws where the state's interest in controlling erosion is deleted. Shameful! http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_218

It would be great if we could get many calls in to representatives (and senators) all over the state. This is an obscure issue, so just one or two calls to one representative is going to make a big impact.

You can find your legislator's contact information at: http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/

This bill is still in the Energy and Environment Committee, nonetheless, you can still just call your representative and just say you oppose HB218. Alternately, you could rewrite my second paragraph and email them. I am going to try to find more material on this, so please keep checking this thread if I kick it.

Thank you.

Colleagues-

The private property owners' proposed land-grab of the Lake Erie shore is nearing a showdown!

A supposed "compromise" on House Bill 218 is expected to be introduced (but not yet voted on) at the Wednesday, Nov. 12 hearing of the Ohio House Energy & Environment Committee.

This is the proposal to literally give away an estimated 3,175 acres of Lake Erie shore lands -- lands that were gifted to the State of Ohio when Ohio became a state in 2003 and held in trust for all 11 million people of Ohio. If passed, this would be a shameless and staggering give-away of unprecedented proportions!

Here are 2 quick things that you and your members can do:

1. Add your name to the sign-on letter pasted below.

2. Encourage your members to phone or write their state representative. An action alert is pasted below. Please forward the action alert to your members. Feel free to use this alert any way you like, including replacing OEC's name with your group's name if you like.

Our ranks are growing: We recently picked up the support of former Ohio DNR directors Fran Buchholzer, Joe Sommer, Bob Teater, and Bill Nye.

If you're not already part of the team to Save Our Shore, what are you waiting for? Come on in...while the shore is still ours! Lake Erie and its shore-lands belong to the people of Ohio. All 11 million of them. Help keep it that way. Join the fight to stop the giveaway of our public trust lands! Thank you.

** Pasted below:
- sign-on letter
- letter to the editor co-signed by former Ohio DNR directors
- fact sheet
- SIGN-ON LETTER -

Message to the Ohio General Assembly from Ohio’s conservation and environmental community:

The Lake Erie shore belongs to the people. All the people. Keep it that way. Reject House Bill 218.


We, the undersigned, are stunned that the Ohio House of Representatives is willing to give away the Lake Erie shoreline, at the whim of those who are fortunate enough to own land along the lake.

By lowering the “watermark” set for the protection and regulation of Lake Erie, this would give away thousands of acres along our coast to private landowners. For those of us who enjoy Ohio’s outdoors, this would also take away our ability to fish, swim, and boat near the shore. It would set back the clock on decades of environmental progress. We
need to think twice about giving away the public’s right to enjoy the Lake Erie shoreline.

We can just picture what Lake Erie might look like in 30 years if Ohio’s coastal programs are uprooted, as is currently being considered in the Ohio Legislature. Oil rigs, fences and private piers will stick out from Toledo to Ashtabula! Without any regulation along our Lake Erie shore, landowners will have a “free for all” for construction along the coast. Our shoreline will continue to erode, dumping will become prevalent again and lakefront owners will be able to fill in portions of their beaches to expand their land base. We should all remember the sorry state of our lake just a few decades ago and do everything possible to make sure we don’t fall back!

We find it ironic that private landowners along Lake Erie want to get rid of Ohio’s coastal regulations. Don’t they realize that abolition of responsible oversight that they seem so intent upon might well come back to bite them? Who will they turn to when their neighbor chooses to construct a breakwall that will cause them more erosion or builds a giant windmill on the beach next door? Do the people who live along the Lake Erie – and our state lawmakers in Columbus – really believe shoreline owners can “police” themselves and protect the environment?

Why is it that our lawmakers in Columbus are so quick to eliminate laws to protect the Lake Erie coast? Those who are wealthy enough to dine on their patios overlooking Lake Erie now say that they should own even more of the beach and shoreline – without any state or local oversight. Lake Erie is our greatest resource and before we proceed with scrapping coastal regulations and expanding the size of private landowners’ coastal lots, maybe we should look back at what the lake was like in 1960s.

The public at large is uniting in opposition to House Bill 218. We have a right to continue to enjoy Lake Erie’s coastal waters. The public will not tolerate a giveaway of the public shoreline and its waters – resources that were given to Ohio at statehood in 1803. Turning over these public trust lands to the private landowners who live along the lake would amount to a giveaway of immense proportions. House Bill 218 is a direct assault on the public’s right to recreate along Lake Erie.

The Lake Erie shore belongs to the people. All the people. Keep it that way. Reject House Bill 218.

Sincerely,


- LETTER TO THE EDITOR CO-SIGNED BY FORMER OHIO DNR DIRECTORS -

To the Editor:

As former directors of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, we have served for a total of 22 years and for governors of both political parties, holding responsibility for the protection and wise use of our state’s irreplaceable land and water resources. We are joining to voice our deep concern with legislation now proposed in the General Assembly that threatens Ohio’s single most important natural resource: Lake Erie.

House Bill 218, nearing a vote in the Ohio House of Representatives, would strip away essential responsibility given to state and local governments to enforce reasonable and very necessary protection of the Lake Erie shore. This bill would put our coastal resources at risk by giving those few Ohioans who own land directly on the lakeshore the ability to extend their holdings across the shore and into the lake itself. By handing them this additional property, House Bill 218 would also give them new rights to develop the Lake Erie coast without regard for the impact their actions would have on the lake or on neighboring property owners.

A small but vocal handful of coastal landowners - those fortunate to own some of the most desirable and costly real estate in Ohio - have opposed responsible management of the Lake Erie coast and are seeking this bill to extend their control over resources that are the heritage of all Ohioans. That is why Ohio’s leading environmental organizations and key outdoor recreation groups have called this legislation a “giveaway” of historic proportions.

After a generation of hard work and millions of dollars in public investment, Lake Erie now has recovered from a sad history of neglect and abuse. Today it is an extraordinary economic and recreational resource, a centerpiece for Ohio’s quality of life. It would be totally irresponsible for us to turn back the clock on that progress and allow Lake Erie to fall victim again to erosion, pollution and thoughtless development.

We encourage concerned Ohioans to join us in strong opposition to House Bill 218 and its irresponsible efforts to abandon Ohio’s lake and coastal resources to an uncertain future. It is bad for Lake Erie and bad for all Ohioans.

William B. Nye Robert W. Teater
ODNR Director, 1971-1975 ODNR Director, 1975-1983

Joseph J. Sommer Frances S. Buchholzer
ODNR Director, 1985-1991 ODNR Director, 1991-1995


- ACTION ALERT -

Birdwatchers, boaters, fishermen and nature lovers, beware!

If some private property owners get their way, you may no longer be able to recreate along most of the Lake Erie shore and its coastal waters. That's because these privileged few want the shore all to themselves…and the Ohio House of Representatives is about to give it to them!

Don't let them get away with it - call or write your state representative today to STOP House Bill 218! Remind them that Lake Erie, its shoreline and coastal waters belong to the people of Ohio - all 11 million of them. Tell them to save our shore. Tell them to vote "NO" on House Bill 218. A vote is expected soon. So, please - don't delay.

Call your state representative toll-free at (800) 282-0253 or visit http://www.theoec.org/greenup_alert_218.html to send a letter. Don't know who your state representative in Columbus is? Go to www.vote-smart.org and enter your zip code. Then look for "Ohio House of Representatives."

For more information:
Visit http://www.theoec.org/greenup_paper_current.html to see the OEC Green Paper and related testimony under "Lake Erie."

- FACT SHEET -

Who owns Lake Erie?

Fact: The State of Ohio holds Lake Erie in trust for all Ohioans – including all of the waters in the lake from the international boundary line to the point where the Ordinary High Water Mark intersects the natural shoreline, the lands currently and formerly beneath the lake, the living resources in the lake, and the shore between high and low watermark.

Fact: The State of Ohio is responsible for the care, protection, and enforcement of the citizens’ Public Trust rights in Lake Erie.

Fact: The State of Ohio legally cannot abandon its Public Trust responsibility and legally cannot transfer any part of Lake Erie – including its submerged lands and the shore between high and low watermark – to a private property owner for private uses.

Fact: The Ordinary High Water Mark is recognized by Ohio as well as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the Federal government as the line of demarcation for lands that are regulated by the Great Lakes states and the United States.

Fact: House Bill 218 proposes to move the boundary between Lake Erie and upland property owners from the universally-recognized Ordinary High Water Mark to the all-time low water mark in Lake Erie’s recorded history – a level recorded during the Dust Bowl of 1936.

Fact: The Ohio Fleming Act has been sited by some as evidence that the General Assembly has the authority to alter the Ordinary High Water Mark. The Ohio Supreme Court, however, ruled that under the Fleming Act, upland owners “…have no title beyond the natural shoreline…” and that the right of upland owners to access and wharf out to navigable waters “…is subject to the superior right of the state as owner of the title in trust for the people of the state, and of the United States…”.

Fact: House Bill 218 proposes to privatize public lands held in the Public Trust for all of the citizens of Ohio.

Fact: If House Bill 218 becomes law, birdwatchers, boaters, and fishermen may
no longer be able to enjoy Lake Erie’s coastal waters. That’s because this legislation would give away the public shoreline and its waters – resources that were given to Ohio at statehood in 1803. All this would be turned over to the private landowners who live along the lake, a giveaway of immense proportions. This undoubtedly will affect how the public can recreate along Lake Erie.

The Lake Erie shore belongs to the people. All the people. Keep it that way. Reject House Bill 218.

Sources: Ohio Constitution (Article 2, Sec. 36), Ohio Revised Code (Sec. 1506.10), numerous court decisions, including State ex rel. Squire v. Cleveland (Ohio Supreme Court, 1948), and Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

This fact sheet was compiled by the Ohio Environmental Council. For more information, contact
OEC@theoec.org
or 614-487-7506.

More than not, Libertarians are behind this. They don't want to see any public land for the public.

It should be easy to determine who lives along the shoreline. That should be a matter of public record.

We will get to the Senate bill if the matter ever gets that far. I don't think there is a Senate bill yet.

City Chatter : Lake Erie Shoreline Now in Political Play
Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Private citizens own most of the property along the 262 miles of Ohio 's Lake Erie shore. In fact, public access to the North Coast is limited to just seven miles of public beach and a few additional miles of state parks and wildlife preserves. A new bill introduced by Chesterland Republican State Representative Tim Grendell would further reduce public use of the lake by extending lakefront property owners' holdings to the low water mark.

The change could extend a property owner's land by hundreds of feet. Across the width of the state, that means giving away hundreds of miles of Lake Erie coast, according to the Ohio Environmental Council's Jack Shaner .

The bill would eliminate the state-level leases and permits required for such construction as docks and breakwalls for erosion control. According to Shaner, it could also open the door for other kinds of development in the lake, such as restaurants and condominiums.

Former Ohio Department of Natural Resources directors William Nye, Robert Teater, Joseph Sommer , and Frances Bucholzer all signed a letter opposing the bill, saying it would put coastal resources at risk.
...snip....

http://freetimes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=543