Page 6: of Marine News Magazine (February 2018)

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EDITOR’S NOTE hen it comes to the collective North American waterfront, there are a thousand dif- ferent voices advocating and clamoring for ten times as many objectives. The reality

W of the matter is that this cacophony of noise is rarely on the same wavelength and the competing voices drown out the real story that we need to tell – especially when it comes to

Jones Act matters and the brown water industry as a whole. Indeed, as an industry, we often do a poor job in telling our story.

The one issue that everyone can and should promote – as one voice – involves the need to properly dredge our waterways and maintain the associated infrastructure. As a maritime na- tion, there may be no more important challenge facing us today. But, when federal lawmakers can’t seem to even keep the government running (as I write, the government shutdown had [email protected] entered its third disappointing day), the hunt for infrastructure funding sometimes takes a backseat to partisan politics.

It goes without saying that the news about funding for infrastructure and dredging isn’t al- ways good. On the other hand, and within this edition, we highlight the good work being done on the Great Lakes and inland waterways by two separate entities. On the Great Lakes, the need to keep a critical, 60-year old marine highway open for business recently got a little help from the federal government. A little further south, the unique statewide oversight of Indiana’s three primary ports by just one authority has that Midwest state – also with some federal funding – preparing for increased freight movements and a modernized, multi-modal and connected supply chain. Both stories show us how careful planning and collaboration between uni