Private Paddling Club Faces Congressional Ire

At a time when the Democrat-controlled Congress appears to direct its attacks and investigations at the White House, two powerful Democratic lawmakers have chosen an unlikely target elsewhere in the city: a local canoe club. The Washington Canoe Club is a private group that operates a boathouse for its members on the banks of the Potomac River near the tony Georgetown neighborhood, on land it has leased from the National Park Service for $5,000 a year. That seems inappropriate, say Michigan Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its investigative subcommittee, respectively. The two men questioned the Interior Department’s practice of granting restrictive leases to private clubs in a letter to Secretary Dirk Kempthorne last month. "We find it especially troubling that…the Washington Canoe Club…appears to be an exclusive private club limited to a few hundred individuals who were lucky or wealthy enough to pass a rather restrictive screening process," wrote Dingell and Stupak to Kempthorne, whose department oversees federal parkland. They’ve got it all wrong, the club’s president says. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. "Our membership application form does not request any information on income or assets whatsoever," WCC president Andrew Soles told the Blotter on ABCNews.com. "[I]t simply requests information on prospective members’ interests in paddling and [their] willingness to participate in a volunteer organization dedicated to canoe and kayak racing." To join the group, one must be sponsored by two current members, undergo a personal interview and a vote by the club’s board. If accepted, fees are $400 a year — although Soles said that is the lowest for groups of that kind. The club has a history of serious paddling. Since canoeing became an official Olympic event in 1936, WCC members have been on nearly every U.S. team, and many have won medals, according to the club’s Web site. But Dingell and Stupak still have questions. In their July 16 letter to Kempthorne, the two demanded to know who at Interior was involved in renewing the club’s lease, which had expired this year; records of all contact between the club and Kempthorne’s department; and information on whether Interior officials considered the "background" of the club’s membership to the "socio-economic make-up of the District of Columbia." But Soles, a senior business consultant with the Nature Conservancy by day, said his group is made up of serious paddlers, not fancypants. "We’ve got firefighters; we’ve got schoolteachers. As for notables, we don’t have anything like that," he said. The congressmen said their concern was sparked by an April study, which found the National Park Service has for many years granted such leases to members-only groups, including yachting, beach and sportsmen’s clubs. Some beach clubs cited in the report have membership fees topping $1,500 a summer, with mandatory cabana rentals that can cost as much as $4,000 for the season. The lawmakers’ letter concerned only the canoe club. Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?