Letter to the Editor: Concerns over control of public land development

To the Editor:

This week Senator Michael Breitbach has surpassed his House constituents in trying to take power away from local people and agencies by championing SF548. March 4, hundreds of citizens traveled to Des Moines to speak against a similar house bill, HF542. The size of the crowd made the front page news in The Gazette. The proposal was for the State to take all control over land for public land development… parks, trails, recreation areas, basically taking power away from local people and giving it to the State, only to the State.

Senator Breitbach thinks regular people do not know what is best for them. I work at an area campground and hear every day about what is best. The bike trails, the trout fishing, the parks, the river. Kids and campers at the campground help pick up sticks when we get a big wind. People donate trees and plants and benches so others can enjoy the green and being out in beautiful northeast Iowa.

Representative Mike Bergan listens. Maybe if more people wrote to Senator Breitbach, he would too. I never recalled him saying before he was elected that his intention was to support centralized government and special interests.

Nancy Eldridge
Decorah