Park Service studies jetski ban at lake

Environmentalists are concerned about the possible results of the review at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published June 27

SPOKANE -- The National Park Service is studying whether personal watercraft should be barred from the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, even though the agency doesn't want the ban.

The Park Service is conducting an environmental assessment to see if the lake is damaged by jetskis. If the gasoline-powered vehicles pass the tests, the Park Service will allow them to stay on the water.

"We're one of the areas that wishes to allow (jetskis) to continue to be allowed," said Dan Mason, chief ranger at Lake Roosevelt, which is the reservoir behind giant Grand Coulee Dam.

In April, a federal judge accepted a settlement that banned the jetskis in all national parks and recreation areas by Sept. 15, 2002, unless the Park Service can show on a site-by-site basis that the machines don't damage the environment.

The agreement was negotiated last December by the Interior Department and the Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group.

The Park Service will study how jetskis affect water quality, air quality, noise pollution, fish and wildlife, habitat, shoreline vegetation, cultural resources and visitor safety.

Lake Roosevelt typically sees few of the recreational craft, Mason said.

But the agency shouldn't jump to any conclusions before the assessment, said Sean Smith, public lands director for the Bluewater Network.

"We're a bit concerned," Smith said. "Because it sounds like jetskis are being acquitted before the trial."

Smith, who has described jetskis as "noisy, smelly and dangerous machines," said Bluewater believes banning them would help air and water quality.

"We think if Lake Roosevelt does a complete, thorough investigation, they will find damage," Smith said.

Jim Meskan, who rents personal watercraft out of his home in Kettle Falls, said the recreational vehicles don't harm the environment any more than cars or motorcycles.

Banning them on Lake Roosevelt would put him out of business, Meskan said.

"It's just another regulation stuffed down the throat of the consumer," Meskan said.

But Meskan is confident that the Park Service's review will keep his business alive. "I think they'll find that the personal watercraft are just fine," Meskan said.

If opponents of jetskis are concerned about safety, Meskan suggested the state should add boating safety to its drivers education program.

Monita Fontaine, director of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association in Washington, D.C., said the vehicles have been improved in recent years.

The two-stroke outboard motors used in the vehicles have reduced their hydrocarbon emissions by 75 percent and their noise by 70 percent, she said.

Banning them "sends a message that there is something inherently damaging about these products," Fontaine said. "Of course, that's not the case."

The Park Service's study must be completed by September 2002, Mason said. In the meantime, personal watercraft are still allowed on the lake, he said.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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