Port board lists efforts to keep rivers open

“It’s important that our people know that we’re spending a lot of money to try and keep that river open,” said Port of Whitman Commissioner John Love at the Feb. 21 port meeting.

The port pays $9,000 annually to Inland Ports and Navigation Group, a subgroup of Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. The money is for litigation to support keeping navigation routes open.

There are eight locks and dams on the Columbia Snake River System that IPNG tries to protect. The group is trying to keep a balance between economic prosperity allowing for the vital transportation for trade and commerce and taking care of the environment by keeping it healthy and the fish runs robust.

The IPNG represents the ports and navigation in lawsuits.

“Anytime that the federal government is sued, we are in the courtroom representing navigation interests,” Port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell explained. He is the chair and a voting member of IPNG.

Almost 20 other ports also help support the litigation fund.

Aside from IPNG, Kammerzell is also the port representative on the Palouse River and Coulee City Rail Authority and an at-large representative for PNWA.

Love is the alternate for Kammerzell on the PNWA, and the PCC, as well as alternate for Port Commissioner Kristine Meyer on the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association and Regional Transportation Planning Organization.

Love is a member of the Board of Trustees for Washington Public Ports Association, and the port representative for the POWBAC Advisory Board.

All three commissioners are members of Pioneer Ports, a conglomerate made up of the ports of Whitman County, Lewiston and Clarkston.