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Jet Ski debate could return to Keys
refuges
By Kevin Wadlow Senior Staff Writer
kwadlow@keynoter.com
Calm, shallow
waters in nearby federal wildlife refuges beckon to Mike Swanson, a
native Key Wester and personal watercraft enthusiast.
"I've been
waiting my whole life to get back out there," Swanson said. "There's
just so much stuff back there."
Now, the 600-plus square miles of water covered
by the
Key West and Great White Heron National
Wildlife refuges are off-limits to PWCs, the small jet-powered craft
better known by trade names such as Kawasaki Jet Ski or Yamaha
Waverunner.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service this week holds
two public meetings in the Lower Keys on shaping the future of the
federal refuges.
They are not
meetings intended to focus on personal watercraft, said Van Fischer,
natural resource planner with the federal agency.
"These are not PWC meetings. There has been a
little bit of confusion," Fischer said. "But there is the whole PWC
issue out there."
Peggy Mathews, a representative of the Personal
Watercraft Industry Association, was planning to attend one of the
meetings. Mathews has previously argued that the PWC ban in the local
refuges is contrary to state law.
Monday, the board of Last Stand, a
conservation organization, formally endorsed "supporting the
wildlife-refuge regulations as they currently exist," said President
Dennis Henize.
"PWCs in the shallow waters of the backcountry is
just not a good idea," Henize said. "These types of vessels are not
compatible with the type of wildlife that lives there."
Last month, the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary's Advisory Council took a similar stand.
People expecting a
debate on personal watercraft at the Wildlife Service's Tuesday and
Wednesday meetings may be in for a letdown, Fischer said.
"This is for the development of a strategic plan
to guide the refuges over the next 15 years," he said. "It's not a
regulatory plan. We're not talking about fences on Big Pine or speed
limits."
But if people want to make a comment on Jet Skis,
he said, they can.
The meetings on
the drafting of the local refuges' first Comprehensive Conservation Plan
will be held:
·
6 p.m.
Tuesday at the Big Pine Charter School's cafeteria on Big Pine Key; and
·
6:30 p.m.
Wednesday at the Harvey Government Center in Key West.
Fischer will explain the goals of the plan, and
detail steps in its approval, which could take years. Those attending
the sessions will be allowed to comment.
Residents also can submit comments in writing
through postal mail or email.
"This is an opportunity for people to find out
what we're doing in terms of planning and research, and to let us know
what we're doing well or not so well," Fischer said.
Personal watercraft were banned from the local
wildlife refuges in 1992, when federal and state officials penned a
joint-management pact for uplands and waters.
Since, the Florida Legislature has declared that
any rules on boating must apply to all vessels equally, and not single
out personal watercraft. |
