News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2003

Personal Watercraft Approved In Another Unit of the National Park System
Final Rule for Lake Powell Released Today

Contact:
Elinore Boeke, 202-721-1621
Brian Berry, 202-777-3524

Washington, DC—Personal watercraft are welcome at Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The National Park Service posted a notice in the Federal Register today, stating, “the vast majority of Lake Powell, including the most popular areas for PWC use, will remain open to PWC use.”

The rule is effective immediately. “The National Park Service finds that alternative B (modified preferred alternative) presented in the Final Environmental Impact Statement will not result in an impairment of park resources and values for which the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was established.”

With the end of summer, personal watercraft enthusiasts are cheering as more units of the National Park Service that allow boating complete scientific studies on the impact of personal watercraft (PWC), and are recommending that PWC use be allowed. The settlement terms of a lawsuit brought by an anti-boating group forced many National Recreation Areas and National Seashores to close temporarily to PWC until environmental assessments (EAs) could be performed and a rulemaking process concluded, but every completed study has recommended that PWC be permitted. To date, two National Recreation Areas (Lake Mead and Glen Canyon) and one National Seashore (Assateague Island) allow PWC, and 10 other parks have also completed EAs that show no unique impact from PWC.

“Although it’s unfortunate that the process has been much slower than we would have liked,” said Kirsten Rowe, executive director of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, “we’re pleased that the National Park Service is relying on sound science in its decision-making process, rather than the shrill rhetoric promoted by anti-boating groups whose focus is not protection of the environment, but their own fundraising goals.”

“Personal watercraft manufacturers have made amazing technological advances to make their vessels cleaner and quieter—a fact recognized by National Park Service scientists and others, but ignored by anti-boating groups because it doesn’t fit with their extreme agenda,” Rowe continued.

Half of all PWC sold in 2002 included new-technology 4-stroke and 2-stroke direct injection engines, according to Ehlert’s Powersports Business. PWCs are manufactured by Bombardier (Sea-Doo), Honda (AquaTrax), Kawasaki (JET SKI), Polaris (Polaris Watercraft), and Yamaha (WaveRunner) and government surveys reveal they are enjoyed by twenty million Americans every year. Coast Guard statistics show that 99 percent of personal watercraft are enjoyed accident free.

In addition to the three noted above, the other units of the National Park Service considering PWC use are Amistad, Big Thicket, Bighorn Canyon, Curecanti, Chickasaw, Cape Lookout, Fire Island, Gateway, Gulf Islands, Lake Meredith, Lake Roosevelt, Padre Island, and Pictured Rocks.

PWIA, representing manufacturers of personal watercraft, actively advocates for reasonable regulations such as mandatory boating safety education for all personal watercraft operators, a minimum age of 16 to operate a PWC, use only during daylight hours, the establishment of no-wake zones, and strict enforcement of boating safety and navigation laws. Model legislation and other information on personal watercraft can be viewed at www.pwia.org. The Glen Canyon National Recreational Area Web site is www.nps.gov/glca.