Personal watercraft seek return to refuges
BACK TO
THE BACKCOUNTRY?
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff
LOWER KEYS — Egrets and
herons cruise the shallows for lunch, only to be interrupted by the
occasional tarpon breaking the surface looking for its own meal and
creating only the ripple. Fishing guides pole the flats for bonefish and
permit. This scene has played out millions of times in the backcountry,
one of only a few true forms of old Keys still left.
Some fear that serenity
will soon be interrupted by Jet Skis, Wave Runners and other personal
watercraft racing through the flats. The trade organization and lobbying
group for the major personal watercraft manufacturers are lobbying to
overturn the ban on the vessels in two national wildlife refuges in the
Lower Keys — Key West and Great White Heron National Wildlife refuges.
The Personal Watercraft
Industry Association is citing a state law enacted in 2000 that states
"any ordinance or local law which has been adopted pursuant to this
section or to any other state may not discriminate against personal
watercraft." The law requires that state and local regulatory agencies
must treat all vessels the same.
Several personal
watercraft associations have also begun to lobby Biscayne National Park
officials about lifting its ban on personal watercraft.
The federal and state
government signed a management agreement in November 1992 that prohibits
the use of personal watercraft in the two Lower Keys refuges. The state
owns the submerged land and the federal government has jurisdiction over
the mangroves and small islands above water.
At the time, the use of
personal watercraft was expanding and biologists feared the impact of
noisy fast moving vessels on birds and flats fish in the refuges, said
Van Fischer, a natural resource planner for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
"Biologists were
witnessing personal water crafts in areas traditionally used by flats
boat guides, buzzing close by the islands. They have the ability to run
in shallow water and can bother nesting and resting birds," Fischer
said. "There are differences between flats boats and other boats and
personal watercraft. Fishermen are going to drop anchor and fish and
flats guides are going to pole across the flats. Personal watercraft are
going to repetitively drive around back there for an extended period of
time.... People want to get on them and go fast."
"This is definitely not a
traditional boat," Fischer added. "You don't sit inside it. It doesn't
have an outboard motor or propeller."
The Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary management plan went into effect in 1996 and federal
officials incorporated the refuges' rules into sanctuary plans.
President Theodore
Roosevelt created the 208,000-acre Key West National Wildlife Refuge in
1908 for the purpose of protecting habitat and breeding grounds for
migratory and native birds, Fischer said. The area starts just east of
Mule Key and runs just west of the Marquesas Keys.
The federal government
created the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge in 1938 to
protect the great white heron and other birds in 192,000 acres that run
from Horseshoe Key to Mud Keys, Fischer said. The refuges are home to
thousands of herons, frigate birds, pelicans, egrets and cormorants.
The issue about personal
watercraft in the backcountry dropped off the radar screen after the
creation of the 1992 agreement. There have been no local personal
watercraft groups vocally pushing to lift the ban. The issue returned
when U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials recently began drafting a new
conservation management plan for the refuges.
Personal Watercraft
Industry Association lobbyist Peggy Matthews met with Katherine Andrews,
state director of coastal and aquatic managed areas, earlier this month
to discuss the state law and repealing the backcountry ban on personal
watercraft. Matthews has also talked with members of Lower Keys guides
associations. Andrews did not return phone messages Thursday.
"The state owns the
submerged land and the agreement may be in conflict with state law,"
Matthews said. "The industry wants to rectify the personal watercraft
issue .... Personal watercraft has every right to be there."
Technology has also
improved to make the personal watercraft "the cleanest and quietest
boats on the water," Matthews said.
New hull designs and
insulators made the vessels 70-percent quieter than those sold prior to
1998, according to Personal Watercraft Industry Association literature.
Another study found that if personal watercraft are operated properly
they don't disturb seagrass in waters 24 inches or greater, Matthews
said.
Wildlife officials could
regulate the watercraft like they regulate any other boat, creating
no-wake and idle speed zones, Andrews said. U.S. Fish & Wildlife has
only one officer for enforcement in the two refuges, Fischer said.
The government would also
have to spend money on creating no-wake and idle zones in the area and
the drafting and installing signs, which could have a negative impact on
the natural beauty of the landscape.
Local fishing guides are
worried about the vessels scaring away bonefish, permit and other flats
fish that easily spook, said flats guide Richard Grathwohl, who also
serves on the Sanctuary Advisory Council and Marathon Guides
Association.
Fish and Wildlife
officials are taking public input for the new management plan. People
can pick up a comment form at the National Key Deer Refuge, 28950 Watson
Blvd., Big Pine Key, or e-mail a comment to FLKeysCCP@fws.gov.
(original incorrect email address corrected)
tohara@keysnews.com |
