WADDINGTON, N.Y. – The Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite Series at St. Lawrence River scheduled for next week cleared a snag today that might have scuttled the event.
The Elite bass tournament was in jeopardy due to salvage operations of two sunken tugboats downstream of the Robert Moses Dam on the St. Lawrence. The project would have forced the closure of lock-and-dam gates and impeded access to much of the most productive stretches of the river.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement today announcing that the salvage operation is being postponed until the tournament has concluded.
“Today, the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control decided to temporarily postpone the salvage operations of two sunken tugboats downstream of the Robert Moses Dam – operations that would have otherwise forced the cancellation of the upcoming Bassmaster Elite Series competition in the Village of Waddington,” Cuomo said. “The Bassmaster competition is poised to attract more than 30,000 visitors to the region and generate up to $3.8 million for the local economy, so it is essential that the competition go on as planned, and our administration lobbied heavily alongside multiple partners in government to ensure that the competition would not be disrupted.
“I would like to thank everyone who worked tirelessly with our administration over the last 24 hours to reschedule these salvage operations. This includes the representatives of the U.S. State Department, the Canadian Government, the U.S. Army Corps, U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission, the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, NCREDC Co-Chair Garry Douglas, Village of Waddington Mayor Janet Otto-Cassada, Town of Waddington Supervisor Sandra Wright, and the Bassmasters Team. Because of our collaborative work, the Bassmasters will go on as planned, and I encourage people to visit St. Lawrence County for this great competition.”
B.A.S.S. CEO Bruce Akin praised the decision as well.
“We at B.A.S.S. are extremely grateful for the decision by the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control to delay salvage operations that would have had a profoundly negative impact on the Evan Williams Bourbon Elite at the St. Lawrence River,” Akin said. “We also thank Gov. Cuomo and all the other state, local and national leaders who worked so quickly and decisively to resolve this issue.”
Competition in the tournament — the sixth of eight regular season Elite events — will get under way as scheduled on Thursday, July 30.
You can follow all the action on the St. Lawrence next week on Bassmaster.com