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Hearing Testimony 

 page 3 



motorized river aaft. Regardless of this legislative language, conflicts do exist between power boat & 

 float users. It is difficult for floaters to ignore a jetboat roaring past their camp at 5:00 a.m. 

 Jetboats by their nature are noisy, throw huge wakes, smell of exhaust, and intrude on the 

 backcountry experience that float users value vk^en they visit a National Wild & Scenic River in a 

 National Recreation Area. Floaters can live with jetboats, but jetboat use must be limited and well- 

 managed. Rules of the road must exist for the safe and courteous use of these large, powerful 

 machines. Good Forest Service management of powerboat use is essential for public safety and to 

 protect the Snake River/Hells Canyon area. 



HR 2568 and S 1374 also lock in patterns of river use that exist today. These patterns of use are 

 much of the current problem in Hells Canyon. Supporting current use patterns means that all holidays 

 and weekends during the late spring, summer, and early fall will be over-crowded with jetboats. 

 Float users need a level playing field with powerboaters. It is difficult and unfair for floaters to live 

 with limited permits and managed use while jetboaters can use the Canyon at any time in any 

 numbers they want. A key to good river management is to even out river traffic, so that the most 

 popular times are no busier than the less popular times. HR 2568 and S 1374 will allow over 

 aowding by large numbers of jetboats on weekends, holidays, and other popular times. 



Good management and resource protection for Hells Canyon are vitally important to my business. I 

 support the Forest Service's proposed plan for managing float and power traffic on the Snake River: 

 The Forest Service plan is not perfect, but it is the result of compromise by every user group. The . 

 Forest Service plan is designed to allow traditional uses while it protects the Hells Canyon resource. 

 Proposed powerboat numbers are based on historic use. Float group size is reduced 20%. Each user 

 group was asked to compromise. Now after all the compromises, powerboaters want to have their 

 use excluded from the plan through legislation. HR 2568 and S 1374 are designed to thwart Forest 

 Sen/ice management of this speaacular national resource, and these bills are designed to eliminate 

 only the saaifice and compromise of the powerboat public while ignoring the sacrifices and 

 compromises that have been made by other use groups. The Forest Service's public planning process 

 allowed every interested person to comment many times over several years. It is now time to 

 implement the Forest Service plan. 



Some jetboaters will have you think that the Proposed Action will eliminate jetboating in Hells Canyon. 

 I say the Proposed Action provides for a tremendous amount of powerboating - an allocation of 

 powerboating that is unprecedented on any other backcountry river in the West. The Forest Service's 

 Proposed Action provides for 1 208 outfitter powerboat days annually from late May through September 

 10. That will allow approximately 1 1 outfitter jetboats on the Snake River every day. The Proposed 

 Action also provides for 6 private powerboat launches into the Wild River daily. The plan provides 10 

 to 25 private powerboat launches daily into the Scenic River. This amounts to a huge allocation of 

 powerboat use. 



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