With 750,000 Jet Skis currently in operation, and
more than 100,000 new “personal watercraft” sold annually, the
industry is pushing the Park Service for access to 62 sites on
national park waters – nearly double the number of sites currently
available in the parks.
But the Park Service and
the Department of Interior can’t agree on how to manage the fast
boats. In September, the Park Service announced plans for a
moratorium on the crafts until it completed an environmental
assessment for the entire park system. Then the agency reversed its
decision in April, deciding to leave management decisions up to
individual park superintendents.
Now, the Park
Service is fighting a top-down push from the Department of the
Interior, which wants the agency to establish stricter Jet Ski
regulations system-wide. Several national environmental groups,
including the National Parks and Conservation Association and the
Bluewater Network, back Interior’s position and are supporting a
moratorium on Jet Ski use in the parks.
“Jet
Skis are the locusts of the sea,” says Warner Chabot, executive
director for the Center for Marine Conservation. “They are a thrill
for one person but destroy the experience for hundreds of others.”
Comments on Jet Ski regulations can be submitted
until the end of June to Dennis Burnett at the Department of
Interior, NPS Ranger Activities Division, 1849 C St. NW, Room 7408,
Washington, DC 20240 or by e-mail to dennisburnett@nps.gov.
*JT Thomas
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Jet Skis: Thrill or scourge?.
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