42 



Ms. Mitchell. Three are private and two are commercial, and 

 each one of the launch will be eight boats and 24 people, and once 

 they launch, they can remain on the river for as long as they 

 choose. They can make it a two or three-day or five-day float. 



Mrs. Chenoweth. And they actually use the river and the camp- 

 sites more than do the Jetboaters, right? 



Ms. Mitchell. Right. The reason is that it is a slower trip and 

 they start later in the day, and then they run a few rapids and pull 

 over. 



Their form of recreation is positive; it is great. It is a great way 

 to see the canyon. It is just that not everybody can afford to take 

 that time or can endure the rigors of a float trip. 



That is why is it great to have both uses, both power and float 

 on that river. It is very compatible. 



Mrs. Chenoweth. I would like to ask Mr. Sherwin, does the For- 

 est Service regulate the floaters and if so, how, and how many li- 

 censes or permits are required of the floaters? 



Mr. Sherwin. Yes, floaters are regulated in the upper section of 

 the river, the upper, I think it is 16.5 miles presently under the 

 present plan. 



I am not sure — are you talking about how many licensed float 

 outfitters are operating there? 



Mrs. Chenoweth. What I am asking, is there an equivalent en- 

 vironment for the number of permits that the Forest Service asks 

 of the floaters as compared to the Jetboaters for the use of the 

 river, not the campsites? 



Mr. Sherwin. I am not real sure that I understand the question, 

 but what I think you are asking — are you asking is it a fair way 

 to do it, to do the permits? 



Mrs. Chenoweth. Let me apologize for not being very clear. My 

 question is, are the floaters required to get the same number of 

 permits as do the Jetboaters? Ms. Mitchell? 



Ms. Mitchell. They are required to have the same licenses that 

 the commercial powerboaters are, and there is a restricted number. 

 There is a limit on how many are allowed to use the Snake River, 

 so they do their license by outfitters and guides associations and 

 they get a permit from the Forest Service in the same way. 



Mr. Sherwin. I am sorry, I misunderstood you. You are talking 

 on the commercial end of it, and I am really a little ignorant on 

 the commercial end, although I do understand that in 1975, the 

 commercial floaters did request the Forest Service to come up with 

 a management plan to allow for them to be permitted because they 

 were having problems at the launch areas. Like on a Friday, every 

 commercial outfitter and private floater was there trying to launch, 

 and they couldn't get their boats in the water. 



I know a couple of those floaters that were involved in that, and 

 at that time, I think there were 18 commercial floaters on the river 

 and something like 30 applicants who were waiting to get commer- 

 cial outfitters license to float the river. 



The commercial floaters could see that they were going to 

 squeeze each other off with overcrowding if that happened, and 

 they did request that the Forest Service install the permit system 

 there to regulate their use, which also, I might add, somebody said 

 something about blue-sky value. It made the value of one of those 



