Current River plan is just more control by our govrnment

To the Editor:

I would like to address a current situation that is about to affect all of those who use Current River in our area. The Park Service is trying to drop the horse power limit on the Current from Van Buren to Gooseneck down to a 40 horse limit. To some people this may sound like a good idea and some I am sure are in favor of this. I would like to express my concerns and ask those of you who are thinking of supporting the limit to consider the following points, for those who agree I hope you will push in every way possible to stop the limit from going through.

When I was a boy growing up they dredged the river, which helped to clean the river out and helped to keep it from filling in. The government has built water shed lakes everywhere to control the runoff, which has added to the drop of the water level of the river. When I bought my first boat I had a 60 horse prop and had no trouble running the river. Now you cannot run the river with a prop, and in places it is hard to run with a jet unit if you don't know what you are doing. Some people will say a 40 horse is plenty big enough. I beg to differ; take a family of five and put them in a boat and try to safely run the river. When running a shallow shoal you need to stay on top to keep from sucking rocks or hitting bottom. If a person sucks up a rock in the middle of a swift shoal then you are now a safety hazard to others around you in a packed riverway. Just because one chooses to have a bigger engine so that they can enjoy the river with his family without having to worry about not having the power to plain off when need be, does not mean they intend to drive like a crazy person and fly up and down the river.

I run a 20/56 Blazer with a 115 E-Tech and have no problems and cause no problems either. The key is to have respect for the river and the people around you. There are some people who do have bigger engines who run the river like crazy people, but if you stop and pay attention to those people and the boats they run then you can see they are not from here and do not show respect for the river or the people on it. This is the problem that needs to be addressed not the horse power limit. The people who live up and down this river help to take care of it; we pick up trash left by those with no respect and help those who have problems. We try to be neighborly to everyone who comes to enjoy the river and only ask the same. Now we have people who do not live up and down this river that have been fed lies supporting the restrictions they want to place on our river. The Park Service and government do not know what is best for the Current River anymore then they know what's best for our health care.

I beg of you to think about all that is going on in our country and apply it to this issue. The government is all about taking our freedoms and limiting what we as Americans have access to. They continue to block off our roads that run through our public lands and keep us off land that we pay for in taxes. Now they want to limit our river even more in the name of good, but it is not for the good it is to take more from us so that it is easier to shut more and more of it down to where you're not allowed to go at your own free will. Instead it will be where, when, and how they want you to. I ask you to stand up as Americans, as Missourians and hold on to what we have for our children and grandchildren so that they may have a taste of what we did growing up. Teach them respect for our river and wildlife and to use what God has given us, but don't restrict it and shut it down when the people it hurts most are those who care for it most. Please write the park service, the governor and your representatives on this issue and let's get this shut down before it's too late. Remember the more they take the more they want.

Zack Spencer

Doniphan