News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2001
PERSONAL WATERCRAFT BANS TO UNDERGO REVIEWS:
Concerned About "Red Flags," Interior Secretary Assessing 4 National Park Bans
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kristin Young: 202-775-1401
WASHINGTON, DC—Yesterday, the Department of
the Interior took a strong step toward fair access to our
National Parks by announcing a review of personal watercraft
(PWC) bans in four National Parks. Interior Secretary Gail
Norton said through a spokesperson that there were "red
flags" and that "she wanted to review the record"
of parks with PWC bans. The parks named in the review are
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, Cumberland Island in Georgia near the Florida
border; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana and Cape
Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina.
Monita Fontaine, executive director of the Personal Watercraft
Industry Association (PWIA), was pleased with the decision,
"This is great news. There is good reason to look again
at these bans as they keep an entire class of boaters and
their families off our public waterways. I'm delighted Secretary
Norton chose to revisit these parks and believe when it is
complete, personal watercraft users will be able to continue
to share our national parks with all other recreationalists."
Last week's settlement agreement between the National Park
Service and Bluewater Network, forces all 21 parks considered
appropriate for PWC in the original April 2000 ruling to undergo
environmental assessments for continued usage. The court ruling
ensures that the parks remain open to personal watercraft
at least through September 2002 and that the assessment will
be a fair and uniform process under the National Environmental
Policy Act. Many parks have already begun the steps necessary
to allow personal watercraft use, but some parks - including
those now under review - had already been closed off to usage
at the superintendent's discretion.
"Personal watercraft will stand up to any review,"
said Fontaine. "The personal watercraft industry has
in the past three years produced boats that are 75% cleaner
and 70% quieter. In fact, today's personal watercraft meet
the2006 EPA clean air standards today - five years early.
It took the automobile manufacturers three decades to meet
the same kinds of standards. And because personal watercraft
have no propellers, they do not harm sensitive marine life.
Personal watercraft are the ideal boats for families in our
national parks," she added.
For more information, visit the PWIA web site at www.pwia.org
or contact Kristin Young at (202) 775-1401 or e-mail at
Kristin.young@dittus.com
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