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News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2001
National Park Service Examines Personal Watercraft Use at Fire Island National Seashore
MEDIA CONTACT:
National Park Service Examines
Personal Watercraft Use at Fire Island National Seashore
FIRE ISLAND, NY - Fire
Island National Seashore will hold a public scoping meeting
on November 17 to solicit public comments on the use of personal
watercraft (PWC) at Fire Island.
"We're so pleased that Superintendent Constantine
Dillon is taking the time to hold this meeting," said
Monita Fontaine, executive director of the Personal Watercraft
Industry Association (PWIA). "There was a lot
of strong opposition to a ban when Superintendent Dillon held
a public meeting last year, and I expect that this meeting
will again demonstrate the public's desire to continue
to enjoy personal watercraft at Fire Island."
The first public meeting on personal watercraft use was held
in October 2001, during the historic New York Yankees vs.
New York Mets World Series. Still, more than 100 New York-area
personal watercraft enthusiasts crowded into a small library
room on Long Island during the game to show their support
for continued public access to the waters at Fire Island.
The National Park Service (NPS) is in the process
of developing management plans that could include bans on
the use of PWC in some or all of the 21 National Parks where
they are currently permitted, including Fire Island. Personal
watercraft are already banned in the 66 other National Parks
that allow motorized boating, due to a regulation that was
implemented in April 2000 without significant public input
or on a scientific basis.
As a result of an April 2001 out-of-court lawsuit settlement
between the National Park Service and an anti-boating group,
personal watercraft will automatically be banned in the remaining
21 parks in 2002, unless each park implements a special regulation
allowing their continued use. In the court-approved settlement,
individual parks are required to undertake environmental assessments.
Based on the results of these park-specific scientific studies
and on local public input, the National Park Service will
decide next year whether or not to allow continued personal
watercraft use in each of these 21 parks.
A recent independent survey by the Leisure Trends Group showed
that a majority of Americans believe personal watercraft should
be permitted in National Parks.
"We are confident that the results of the National Park
Service environmental assessments will recognize the innovative
technologies that the personal watercraft industry has created
in order to produce safe, quiet and environmentally-friendly
recreational boats," said Fontaine.
"PWIA is not opposed to reasonable regulation of all watercraft,"
she added. "But where motorized boating is permitted,
it is discriminatory to single out one type of boat for banning.
It is imperative that the National Park Service take the time
to learn about our industry's technological, environmental
and safety achievements before unfairly limiting the recreation
choices of hundreds of thousands of families who enjoy personal
watercraft on our nationÕs public waterways."
Since 1998, the personal watercraft industry has invested
in technological advances that have led to a 75 percent reduction
in hydrocarbon emissions and a 70 percent reduction in sound.
New direct-injection systems in two-stroke personal watercraft
engines are vastly cleaner than older, conventional two-stroke
marine engines. The industry continues to innovate, and this
summer, both Yamaha and Bombardier unveiled four-stroke engine
technology in 2002 models of personal watercraft.
The public meeting to discuss personal watercraft use at Fire
Island National Seashore will be held on Saturday, November
17, 2001 from 5 - 7 p.m. in Centennial Hall at St. John's
University, 500 Montauk Highway, Oakdale, NY.
For those unable to attend the hearing, written comments may
be submitted to Superintendent Constantine Dillon, Fire Island
National Seashore, 120 Laurel Street, Patchogue, New York
11772.
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