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Te^nmiiny of George Haupiman I 

 Page : ol" 3 



i 



During the last 8 years. I have been very involved in the river corridor planning process. I uas ' 



one of two outfitters representing the Hells Canyon commercial float permittees on the Limits of i 



Acceptable Change (LAC) task force. ' 



The present plan that has been formulated for Hells Canyon is a combination of the work of the 

 LAC task force and input from all of the user groups in Hells Canyon. The plan closely follows 

 the original LAC proposal and allows for a 24 day motorless window on a small section of the | 



entire river corridor. This window was provided to allow an opportunity to experience Hells | 



Canyon in a quiet setting over a small part of the season. None of the user groups involved were 

 particularly pleased with the plan. Segments of the float community wanted no power boat use j 



and similarly, some powerboaters wanted no regulation at all. 



The Forest Service plan attempted to accommodate all of the user groups and, from my perspec- ' 



tive, is an excellent plan. The plan allows all of the user groups to access and enjoy a limited 

 resource, one that we often tend to forget is also a natural treasure, deserving of a large measure 



of respect. 



i 

 1 

 Frederick Courtney Selous wrote in Sport and Travel in 1900, this passage: "Hotels perched high 



up among the Swiss Alps, railways through the rocky mountains or steamboats on the Zambezi '< 



are all very good and useful things no doubt, but they destroy the poetry of their surroundings." i 



The Forest Service's new management plan allows visitors to the canyon a chance to sense the j 



poetry of their surroundings, while allowing the powerboat experience fair access into the can- , 

 yon. I personally applaud the Forest Service, for the care and effort they have put into the new 



plan. I 



I 

 Federal Bills H.R.2568\S. 1 374 attempt to legislate that no conflict exists in Hells Canyon be- 

 tween the float and powerboat groups. I have spent more nights in Hells Canyon over the last 10 , 

 years than any other person. In the deep narrow canyon a jetboat passing by your camp in the 

 quiet early morning is the same as having a motor cycle roar through the middle of your bedroom j 

 at 5.00 am, it is quite disconcerting. A good analogy is a trail with one group hiking on foot and j 

 another group on dirt bikes. The dirt bikers would claim that no conflict exists as long as the j 

 hikers get the hell out of the way. To legislate that these conflicts do not exist is ludicrous. I have j 

 thousands of clients that would inform you that a conflict does in fact exist, even though I at- 

 tempt to minimize any conflict by educating our clients and avoiding weekends where the | 

 powerboat numbers are overwhelming. \ 



\ 

 The argument that the Forest service management plan is destroying existing powerboat busi- ! 



nesses is untrue. Everyone who operates on limited permitted rivers who wishes to expand their i 



business beyond their permit capacity must purchase additional business opportunities on that 



river. The Hells Canyon commercial powerboaters want the opportunity to expand to always be i 



available to them at any time. There are 16 powerboat outfitters in Hells Canyon. The last pub- ; 



lished data in 1993 show the eight smallest outfitters together took a total of 187 people into ; 



Hells Canyon during the regulated season. That is an average of 23.35 guests per outfitter. At a J 



