July 7, 2004
WA - Officials at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area have completed the required environmental assessments and concluded that PWC are an appropriate boating activity in that location.
The finding comes two years after the National Park Service was required by a court settlement to begin prohibiting PWC pending the results of scientific studies regarding the vessels’ impact. PWC are allowed on the lake as of today, June 25.
Five additional National Park Service (NPS) units already welcome personal watercraft, eight units are in the final stages of the rulemaking process to reallow the vessels, and scientific analyses on the effects of personal watercraft are currently underway at two National Seashores.
"We were confident that science would once again rule over bias, and confirm that PWC have no unique impact that justifies singling them out for discriminatory bans," said Jeff Ludwig, Regulatory Affairs Manager at the Personal Watercraft Industry Association (PWIA). “The Lake Roosevelt re-opening continues a trend of National Park Service findings that there is a place for PWC in units of the National Park system that allow other forms of motorized boating.”
“In fact, in every instance where a scientific assessment has measured the impact of PWC on a public body of water where motorized boating is permitted, modern PWC have been found to be appropriately included in multiple-use waterways management plans,” said Ludwig. “It’s unfortunate that the national parks had to prohibit PWC use in the first place based on what science is proving to be frivolous accusations made by an extremist anti-boating group.”
