Hennepin Canal: Enjoy it while you can

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SHEFFIELD —  The times of camping and picnics along the Hennepin Canal could be a thing of the past.

On Thursday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced the Hennepin Canal state park will be among 11 state parks which will be closed on Nov. 1 as a cost saving measure. In addition, four historic sites, including Bishop Hill, will be closed or have limited open hours.

On Friday, Chris McCloud with the Department of Natural Resource said the dynamics of just what that “closing” will look like may vary from state park to state park. Every park is different and the closings will be defined and determined separately, he said.

The closings were the result of DNR getting its operating budget cut  by $14 million, or 24 percent, by Blagojevich, McCloud said. Thirty-nine employees will lose their jobs because of these state park closings, he said.

On Friday, Kathy Foes, coordinator for the Bureau County Tourism Board and also a member of the Friends of the Hennepin Canal, said the governor’s announcement on Thursday came as a total surprise.

Fourteen of the 15 people working the 100-mile Hennepin Canal will lose their jobs, Foes said. The Mautino State Park between Buda and Sheffield and the Andalusia wetlands, near the Quad Cities, will also be affected because the Hennepin Canal staff also maintains those sites, she said.

“This is a huge mistake,” Foes said. “Investments in our historic sites bring great returns to the community. We need our state parks.”

According to Foes, Illinois is ranked 49th out of the 50 states for the least amount of acreage for the size of its population. The state needs to be investing in their state parks, not closing them, she said.

Closing the canal brings with it all kinds of issues for neighboring communities, businesses, property owners, and law enforcement agencies, Foes said.

Foes is asking the public to contact their legislators to express their opposition to the governor’s decision and to ask for the funds to be reinstated.

On Friday, State Rep. Don Moffitt said he’s already fighting the governor’s decision. He and Rep. Mike Boland of Moline have filed House Bill 6693 as a bipartisan effort to restore the funding for the affected historic sites, which includes Bishop Hill. He will also file the similar bill for the state parks.

Realistically, the bills will probably not be heard until the veto session, which is after the November election, Moffitt said. A special session could be called before then, but it is unlikely, he added.

In Moffitt’s opinion, Blagojevich has not thought through his decision carefully enough.

Closing the state parks and historic sites will cost the state money in the long run in reduced tourism, lost wages to canal staff, and reduced sales taxes, Moffitt said. Also, once the parks and sites are closed and if not properly maintained, the cost to re-open them would be great, he said.

“I know the state is in a difficult financial position, but these state parks and historic sites bring in revenue,” Moffitt said. “This was the wrong decision.”