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the benefits of making improvements are foregone for many years. As we continue to lengthen project comple- tion times to well past the 20-year mark, completion costs, transportation penalties, and maintenance costs all continue upward. There are also a number of bridges on our waterways that have been designated by the Coast

Guard as Obstructions to Navigation, with orders for their alteration or replacement having been issued as well, yet their replacement remains unfunded. These structures pose hazards both to navigational interests as well as those who use the bridges.

Finally, although not a physical bottleneck, it is long past time for us to reconsider how we maintain "balance" with our Federal support of environmentally based initiatives, and our basic needs as a growing, energy based economy that finds itself competing daily in a world market. I am hearing more and more talk in the news these days from major industry decisionmakers that they will not plan any extensive expansion in the United States in the future because of our requirements for permission to build here.

Our need for a National Energy Policy is more critical than many of us realize.

Because of the very nature of the benefits afforded by inland waterway transportation we are taking proactive measures to preserve the environment when we foster the maintenance and expanded use of our waterways. We should consider these facts when faced with the choice of where to place funding. We can unintentionally reduce opportunities to improve our environment by adding "environmentally specifc" options to waterway projects, which can financially "weigh down" the entire project making it fall beyond means of justification. This prac- tice can result in no project at all, and continuation of "the same old way of doing business". In the end, the envi- ronment, as well as industry, both lose.

Rick Calhoun • Cargill

MN: What is the most important message about the inland waterways industry that needs to be conveyed to the media and policymakers?

Calhoun: I think this question has been at the forefront of this industry for a very long time and I am afraid I don't have a unique or particularly insightful answer. I per- sonally have spoken to this issue on a number of occa- sions. That said, I don't think you can reinforce it enough.

This country needs a viable inland waterways system in the United States. Not only to move grain and other agri- cultural products to market in a cost-efficient manner, but to also move imported and domestic goods up the river to markets. We need a viable, dependable system in order to serve customers. In my role at Cargill, I deal with all the major rail carriers in this country as well as the barge industry. The rail infrastructure in some parts of this country is at or near capacity. Carriers are pushing busi- ness away. Our highways are congested with trucks. It has been said a thousand times but the inland waterway 28 • MarineNews • June, 2005 27-ft eXtreme PilotMaster

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