114 



United States Torest Halls Caayea latieaal Bccreacioa Area 

 Dapaxbaaat of Serviea 2535 RiTaraide DriYe 

 ^rieoltttrc P. 0. Bo« 699 

 . Clattataa. Baahinytn^ qoifli;^ 



1600 



March 20. 1995 



David Cameron and Jad Rahanan 

 3 Sandy Babb Straat |^tty 

 Georgetown, Guyana 

 South Aneriea 



Cc&tleaen: 



My name is Koy Lombardot I an a River Ranger working for the Wallowa-Whitman 

 National Foreat in Hell* Canyon> I aupervise all River Patrols for the Hella 

 Canyon National Recreation Area on over seventy miles of river corridor. One of 

 my primary missions is the protection and safety of Forest Visitors while they 

 ere en the vatsrs of the Wild ( Scenic Snake River. I have held this>f osition 

 for over eight years, and I have personally operated jet boats in both the 

 United States and Canada for over twenty yeers. 



The majority of our forest visitors that access Hells Canyon do so by way of a 

 jommercial jet powered passenger boat. Since 1990 these boats have carried over 

 94,934 people, end brought in revenues that exceed $6,920,372. During this seme 

 period of time, w'e have hod less then ten minor accidents involving commercial 

 boat traffic. One of these incidents war a bilge fire that did produce seversl 

 burn, casualties. However, we have never had a fatality reaulting from passenger 

 vessel operation during the past twenty years! 



The Forest Service presently operates two jet powered patrol boats on the Snake 

 River. We have a 32 foot twin^and a 24 foot single engine vessel. Both of 

 these boats were manufactured by Bents Boats in Leviston, Idaho. We have used 

 the 24 loot craft for almost fifteen years now under the most severe conditions 

 imagiosBle. We have pushed her for thoussnds of hours with extreme loads, on 

 days when the smbient air temperatures exceeded 105 degrees, or broke ice for 

 ten miles on the lower river to reach port in the middle of the night, and 

 through it all she has never failed usi Our 32 foot twin was built last year. 

 I wrote the bid epeoif icetiens of the new boet end these stsndsrds were some of 

 the most demanding I have ever seen. Bents Boats met or exceeded all of our 

 contract requirements! In my opinion, welded sluminum commercial jet powered 

 vessels provide one of the safest modes of river navigation available. 



Sincerely,^ 



Csrlng lor the Land Snd Ssrvlrta Paevte 

 // 



FS-«300-2( (7.631 



