5 THINGS ABOUT TRUMP, GOLF AND A RIVER
1 PADDLERS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT
Paddlers who use the Potomac River near President Donald Trump’s Loudoun County, Va., golf course filed a federal lawsuit Thursday morning to try to reverse a policy that closes a three-kilometre stretch of the river when the president is playing golf. The Coast Guard instituted the shore-to-shore security perimeter last summer, angering recreational canoers and kayakers who use the river for paddling, classes and conservation.
2 PATROL BOATS ‘UNSETTLING’
The security zone, known as “Seneca Lake,” is a calm stretch of river that is particularly useful for beginners, classes and river cleanup outings, the suit says. “The beauty of the river is its privacy and solitude, and to have patrol boats on the river is so unsettling,” said Barbara Brown, an avid paddler since the late 1950s and head of the Canoe Cruisers. The section is bordered on one end by a dam and Seneca Break rapids. It features two access points for paddlers on the Maryland shore: Riley’s Lock, where there is a county-run park, parking and the headquarters of a youth camp, and Violette’s Lock, which includes parking and a picnic area, the lawsuit says.
3 TRUMP HAS ALLEGEDLY MADE 36 TRIPS TO COURSE
Democracy Forward, a nonprofit formed last year that focuses on executive branch actions, is representing the Canoe Cruisers Association of Greater Washington DC, which is based in Maryland. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Maryland, Southern Division, says Trump has made more than three dozen visits to the golf club since the rule was put in place, and each time river access was restricted to some degree. “We do see a pattern that this administration will flout the law when it suits its policy aims,” said Nitin Shah, senior counsel with Democracy Forward Foundation.
4 MORE THAN 600 NEGATIVE COMPLAINTS
In June 2017, after the Coast Guard put the security zone in place, paddlers were incensed. The agency gave the public a chance to weigh in and received more than 600 comments, all of them negative, according to the lawsuit.
5 SAFETY CONCERNS FOR ROOKIE KAYAKERS
Michael Graham of Kensington, Md., was recently teaching a swiftwater rescue class when he was approached by Coast Guard officials who at first wanted his students to cross the river at a dangerous point. Ultimately, the kayakers were allowed to use a safer route. “The thing that frustrates us is that it’s so unpredictable,” he said. “You can’t run a school, you can’t run a camp not knowing if today is not going to be the day.”