FTF act

[Headhunter]

from what i understand is law.

[MNfisher]

This is what I hear too. WOOHOO!

[Travis C.]

This is what I hear too. WOOHOO!

I assume it is law now and gives anyone born in Tennessee the right to fish those restricted areas. :p

[MNfisher]

I assume it is law now and gives anyone born in Tennessee the right to fish those restricted areas. :p

HEY NOW!!! Ya, them are some fightin' words right there....don'tcha know.

[Catch & Release]

DOUG NOTE: NOW IT IS OFFICIAL. GO FISHING!

Alexander’s Two-Year Ban on Corps Fishing Restrictions Becomes Law

***Press Release from Senator Alexander:

WASHINGTON, June 3 – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced that the two-year ban stopping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from restricting fishing below dams on the Cumberland River, passed first by the Senate and then by the House, has officially become law.

“Now the Corps is required, by law, to stop wasting taxpayer dollars and ignoring elected officials who are standing up for fishermen,” Alexander said.

The legislation that became law today prohibits the Corps from implementing existing fishing restrictions for two years, while also delegating enforcement below the dams to state agencies in Tennessee and Kentucky. The U.S. Senate unanimously supported this legislation on May 16, and the House passed it on May 21.

In addition to today’s two-year ban, on May 15 the U.S. Senate passed Alexander’s permanent solution as part of the Water Resources Development Act. This permanent solution would prevent the Corps from establishing permanent physical barriers, and from taking any further action until the Corps ensures that restrictions downstream of the 10 dams on the Cumberland River are based on actual operating conditions – instead of 24 hours a day. The Water Resources Development Act would also give sole responsibility for enforcement of the restricted area below the dams to the states and require that the Corps seek and consider public comment before taking further action. The House has not yet taken up its version of the Water Resources Development Act, which Alexander said made it necessary to pass a two-year ban in the meantime.

The Corps had proceeded with its plan to restrict access below 10 dams along the Cumberland River in Tennessee and Kentucky, despite the Senate’s unanimous support for an amendment to the budget resolution in March that would allow Congress to prohibit the Corps’ plans. Alexander had also held numerous meetings with Corps officials encouraging them to find a compromise with state agencies, and after they refused, he said on May 8 he would restrict Corps funding in his role as the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

Alexander’s legislation, known as the “Freedom to Fish Act,” was cosponsored by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). A similar version was sponsored in the house by U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Diane Black (R-Tenn.), Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.).

[Travis C.]

HEY NOW!!! Ya, them are some fightin' words right there....don'tcha know.

OKay okay.... you can have above Cheatham Dam, above Center Hill, above Cordell Hull and below Wolf Creek... :D

Joking aside, this is pretty good news. I know I don't fish all the areas but am glad that the ones I do are still open and for those that fish the others as well.

[Transplanted Sportsman]

OKay okay.... you can have above Cheatham Dam, above Center Hill, above Cordell Hull and below Wolf Creek... :D

Joking aside, this is pretty good news. I know I don't fish all the areas but am glad that the ones I do are still open and for those that fish the others as well.

Wait a minute there Travis!!, I was starting to take issue with your previous post but now that you clarified your position and realized you were joking I see it now we are on the same side!!:D, I don't even fish any of these places but just because of the authoritarian way the corps wanted to impose this on us fishermen made me angry, hopefully I will be fishing some of these in the future (I hope)

[nofish]

Will they take out the buoys they installed? I went to old hickory dam Friday night and attempted to drift fish by myself, but after to passes I decided to stop because those buoys are now an obstacle and have created an additional hazard. I'm glad to report though that there was another boat past the buoys fishing.