Editorial: Iowa should be destination 52 weeks a year

Each year thousands of people from all 50 states and several foreign countries participate in the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Of all the places they could choose to spend summer vacation time, they want to pedal across this great state. Saturday they are descending on Glenwood.

RAGBRAI puts Iowa on the map as a great place to ride a bike for one week each July. But this state should be a great place to bike — and camp, fish, run, walk, boat, hunt and swim — the other 51 weeks of the year, too. It should be a recreation destination like Missouri and Minnesota.

Unfortunately, our elected state officials refuse to invest in helping make that happen.

It has been more than five years since Iowans went to the polls and overwhelmingly supported amending the state constitution to create the Natural Resources Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. Like in many other states, voters here wanted a stream of revenue for conservation and recreation that cannot be raided for other purposes. Unlike those other states, Iowa does not have a single penny in its fund.

That's because lawmakers were supposed to raise the state sales tax a fraction of a penny to provide the dollars. Voters who supported the trust certainly assumed legislators would do this, but year after year they do not.

Our elected officials say “it’s not a good time” to raise taxes without ever specifying when a good time would be. When does Gov. Terry Branstad think will be a good time to finally fund the trust? What about Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal or House Speaker Linda Upmeyer? Will next legislative session finally be a good time?

Because scores of supporters, including hunters, ATV riders, cyclists and bird watchers, certainly wonder how many more years they will need to trek to the Statehouse and beg lawmakers to follow through.

The people of this state know our waterways are filthy. They know our future economy depends on preserving topsoil. They want recreational trails connected, land purchased for public use and restoration programs for wetlands. They know an investment in the outdoors draws tourists and improves property values. And they know all this takes money, which is why they voted to create the trust and expected lawmakers to allow it to be funded.

The thousands of cyclists making their way across Iowa this week will appreciate the sun rising over cornfields, pies baked by church members and the hospitality of small towns. Ironically, they will ride on country roads funded, in part, by money generated from a gas tax and dedicated exclusively to roads and bridges.

But when they’re inhaling the aroma of a hog confinement, they may rightly worry about the safety of drinking water. And when they’re seeking relief from the sweltering heat, they should think twice about taking a dip in Iowa’s toxic rivers and lakes.