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• private jet boaters will receive more launches on weekends, a privilege not 

 given to floaters. 



• Private jet boaters will be able to obtain as many launch permits as they wish 

 throughout the year. Floaters are limited to one per year for the 32-mile Wild 

 river section during the summer months. 



• Private jet boaters will not be required to enter a lottery or pay a fee to obtain a 

 permit, as floaters are. They can call at will to secure a permit. 



• Commercial jet boaters will receive additional launches on weekends if 

 weekday launches are not used. Commercial floaters do not receive such a 

 privilege. 



• The launches allotted to both commercial and private jet boaters on a daily 

 and seasonal basis exceeds the highest established levels that accumulated 

 under a system that allowed unlimited launches. Jet boat use has been 

 allowed to escalate unrestrained for 20 years while float use has been capped 

 since 1977. The plan would lock in jet boat levels and reduce float 

 opportunities below the 1977 cap. 



• The 21-day, 24-mile nonmotorized section encompasses the area of the river 

 least used by both commercial and private jet boaters, and includes the days of 

 the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) least used by jet boaters. 



• Using a "mile days" calculation, multiplying the days in a year (365) times the 

 miles on the river (71), the nonmotorized period amounts to 1.9 percent of 

 the total available time and space on the Snake River. 



The jet boat lobby has advocated a system it calls "shared use," where both 

 motorized and nonmotorized recreationists simultaneously use the river, and no 

 consideration is given to the impacts of one type of use on the other. 



In the Forest Service plan, jet boaters get the system they advocate, shared use, on 

 98.1 percent of the time and space on the river. However, they continue to advocate 

 for 100 percent. 



V. ANALYSIS OF, AND COMMENTS ON H.R. 2568 



The Hells Canyon Preservation Council and its 2,200 members oppose this 

 legislation. The following are the reasons for our opposition. 



1) The bill's provision that "motorized and nonmotorized rwercraft shall be 

 permitted access to, and use of, the entire river within the recreation area at all 

 times during the year" would make it impossible to preclude motorized use of the 



Testimony of HCPC on River Management 



