Marine Board To Meet Feb. 17

Boating regulation changes affecting the Tualatin River and Diamond Lake will be considered by the Oregon State Marine Board during the board meeting Thursday, Feb. 17 in Salem. The board will also be asked to initiate rulemaking affecting Detroit Lake, Fern Ridge Reservoir and several waterbodies in northeast Oregon.

The meeting will be held at the Marine Board headquarters, 435 Commercial St. NE, #400. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. The meeting is being held in a facility that is accessible for persons with disabilities. Persons needing some form of assistance to participate in this meeting due to a disability should contact Jill Andrick at (503) 373-1405, ext. 243, at least two working days prior to the meeting.

Agenda items include the following:

1. Delegated Authority: At the request of the Board, staff will present a proposal to allow the Board to delegate authority to the Marine Board director to approve temporary boating closures or restrictions. Such closures of waterways are occasionally requested for fish habitat improvement and bridge or pipeline construction projects and are generally short in duration.
2. Final Consideration of Rulemaking - Tualatin River: Staff is proposing to eliminate waterskiing on the river, but no further restrictions on boat operation. This proposal is the result of a lengthy public input process that began with a petition in early 1999 to restrict motor boat operations to "slow-no wake" on the river.
3. Proposed Rulemaking - Diamond Lake: Legislation adopted by the 1999 Oregon Legislature dictates that the 10 mph speed limit on Diamond Lake, historically a popular trout fishing lake, be lifted to 45 mph in 2000 to allow waterskiing and other activities. The legislature sought the change because public use of the lake declined with the introduction of Tui chub in the early 1990s, which resulted in the loss of the trout fishery. The Marine Board must develop Oregon Administrative Rules to implement the legislation.
4. Request for Rulemaking - Detroit Lake: Petitioners are asking the Board to consider changing a "pass-through only" area adjacent to Kane's Marina at the east end of Detroit Lake to a "5 mph, slow-no wake" designation for safety purposes. This is a request to begin rulemaking - no regulations will be adopted at this meeting.
5. Request for Rulemaking - Fern Ridge Reservoir: US Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) are requesting that motorized water craft, except those using small electric motors, be prohibited on any portion of Fern Ridge Lake south of Hwy. 126. The request would also prohibit use of airboats and hovercraft within emergent vegetation zones. The goal of the request is to protect nesting waterfowl and other wildlife as well as sensitive habitats. This is a request to begin rulemaking - no regulations will be adopted at this meeting.
6. Request for Rulemaking - Balm Creek and Higgins reservoirs: ODFW is requesting new regulations limiting powered watercraft to electric motors only in these two reservoirs in northeast Oregon. Access to both reservoirs is primarily via privately owned land. ODFW is concerned that, if high-speed boat operation is allowed to continue, the landowners may close public access to the reservoirs which offer popular warmwater fish and trout fisheries. This is a request to begin rulemaking - no regulations will be adopted at this meeting.
7. Miscellaneous items on the agenda include a report on the ongoing development of the Mandatory Boater Education Program, a Law Enforcement Program report, consideration of several Facility Grant Requests, and a grant agreement on the Pony Point boat ramp in Coos Bay.

Persons wishing to address the board on non-agenda items may do so during a designated period at the start of the meeting.