When the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced that the McHenry Locks connecting the lower Fox River to the Chain of Lakes would be closed Mondays and Tuesdays, along with fewer hours the rest of the week, Crystal Lake attorney Jim Bishop got activated.

He produced a petition aimed at the McHenry County Board that said,

We, the undersigned, hereby petition the McHenry County Board and the Fox Waterway Agency to join with us to protest the recent actions of the STATE OF ILLINOIS, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES whereby the locks maintained on the Fox River, at the William G. Stratton/Thomas A. Bolger Lock & Dam will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, commencing May 1, 2009 and other operating hours reduced during the 2009 summer boating season.

The closure of the locks will have a substantial negative effect on many businesses adjacent to the Fox River which depend upon summer boat traffic for a substantial part of their annual income.

The reduction in gross income of those businesses will result in a substantial loss of general sales tax revenues to McHenry County, the municipalities affected and the State of Illinois.

The closure of the locks will greatly affect the recreational activities offered by the Fox River to thousands of boating enthusiasts.

Bishop told me that the county board members he has contacted are receptive to his message and that McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler is going to propose a resolution to the McHenry County Council of Governments.

If you would like to print a copy of the petition, you can find it here.