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old rules governing use of the river, and in the Forest Service's proposed new plan, 

 jet boaters have vastly greater opportunities to visit the river in the craft of their 

 choice than floaters. 



To prove this point, we present river management from two perspecLives: 1) The 

 current use allocation system that has been in force since 1977, and 2) the proposed 

 Forest Service plan, which H.R. 2568 seeks to change in favor of increased jet boat 

 use. 



1) The number of jet boats allowed to navigate the Snake River is not now, and has 

 never been controlled as the 1975 Act requires. (See, Exhibit Q.) A person may put a 

 private jet boat onto the river at any time they desire. The number of jet boat 

 launches per commercial outfitter are not limited either. 



Conversely, float use has been controlled since 1977. Both commercial outfitters and 

 private floaters have lived for 18 years with a use limitation on 32 miles of the 

 Snake River that each year has excluded thousands of people from the ability to float 

 the most popular section of the river during the summer months. (See, Exhibit R.) 



In order to run the upper 32 miles of the Snake River between memorial day 

 weekend and September 15, private floaters must enter a lottery for a chance to 

 obtain a permit. The chances of obtaining one of these permits is approximately 40 

 percent (averaging 1993 and 1994 success rates). Individuals are limited to one 

 private float permit per year. 



Thus, floaters have a less than fifty percent chance of floating the Wild section of the 

 river at all, and will only float it once for a duration of probably three or four days 

 each year (which is the standard time frame for a trip through the Wild sechon). 

 (See, Exhibit H.) Commercial float companies are limited to one launch every eight 

 days. 



The launch limits, and the lottery system for floaters will be maintained in the 

 agency's new river plan. In fact, the launch limit will be tightened by reducing the 

 maximum party size from 30 to 24 people. (See, Exhibit S.) Both commercial and 

 private floaters will remain limited to the same launch limits they have been 

 restricted to on the Wild river sechon since 1977. In the scenic sechon, there will be 

 no commercial launches allowed, and only one private launch per day. 



Jet boaters have, for 18 years, all but owned this river despite bemg the more 

 impacting recreahon use. 



2) However, there is no lottery or pre-issued permit requirement for private jet 

 boaters. Nor is any individual limited in the number of permits he/she may obtain 

 in a given year. Commercial jet boat launches reflect the use that each outfitter has 

 established during the 20-year period of unlimited use. 



Tesbmony of HCPC on River Management 



