Willamette iet boat runs make waves
/
Ptxrto by Jimmi Harris
Jet boat pilot Roger Letter
By LORRAINE NELSON
Of the Emerald
“Row, row, row your boat,
gently down the stream
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
life should be serene "
While protesters sang their version of that old
standard. Roger Lefler, several passengers and
members of the media boarded his jet boat Sa
turday morning for this year's first Valley River
excursion .
Lefler owns and operates Valley River Ex
cursions. a commercial jet boat operation on the
Willamette River. He has been at the center of a
controversy concerning jet boats on the river
since he began the business last year
About 10 protesters appeared with signs at
Letter's boat dock outside the Valley River Inn
Saturday, before Lefler was scheduled to make
his first excursion 22 miles up the river to Harris
burg.
Sunday afternoon about nine members of the
Mckenzie River Flyfishers tied their drift boats to
Letter's dock He was on the dock at the time and
granted them use of the dock but asked that they
not let their boats damage his
Pete Patricelli. a member of the Flyfishers.
argued that the public has the right to use the
boat dock
' But the permit for the boat dock says it is a
recreational use permit for use by the public.’*
Patricelli said.
"It is for use by the public." Lefler countered
"The public that takes this trip "
The flyfishers expressed concern about
erosion from the wake of the jet boat. that one jet
boat would lead to another and said that par
ticular stretch of the Willamette would become
commercialized
Michael Piper, a member of the Saturday
protesters, said the group protested because the
public wasn t consulted about the permit process
when Lefler was issued his by the Army Corp of
Engineers
He said the group also believes there are too
many unanswered questions about the jet boat s
impact on the environment The group will ask
the U S. Coast Guard to produce an Environ
mental Impact Statement, he said
"We would like to keep this (the protest) up
on a regular basis," Piper said "We feel most
people coming in will be tourists and we want
most of them to know that there are some
unanswered questions."
Lefler said he doesn't think the protesters'
presence will affect his business.
Lefler runs his 48-seat boat between Eugene
and Harrisburg twice a day and will begin running
it three times daily starting June 1 The trip takes
about two-hours at an average speed of 30 mph
If the demand for Eugene Harrisburg excur
sions is great enough. Lefler plans to add another
boat, which he already owns, to increase the
number of trips he can make.
That should bring more shouts of protest
from those who complained two weeks ago at a
Eugene City Council hearing that one boat would
lead to others and that jet boats would eventually
dominate other types of activity on the water,
such as canoeing or inner tubing
At that meeting, the council instructed City
Attorney Stan Long to research the city's legal
options for restricting jet boats on the water That
information should be available to the council
sometime in June.
Members of the state Department of En
vironmental Quality will travel to Eugene soon to
inspect the section of the river between Eugene
and Harrisburg, according to DEQ noise engineer
Norman Jette The inspection and a conference
with the State Marine Board will determine
whether the DEQ will recommend to the En
vironmental Quality Commission that the area be
designated a "quiet zone." Jette said
After a State Marine Board hearing on the
issue in Eugene last October, the marine board
forwarded testimony taken from that hearing to
the DEQ without comment or recommendation
The noise level for the Willamette River is set
at 84 decibels under current state standards
With the establishment of a quiet zone, the level
would drop to anywhere from 45 to 60 decibels,
depending on the time of day
A reading of the noise level of Lefler s boat,
taken in October, measured 82 decibels The
noise level on his new boat has not been
measured yet. but Lefler says it is about the same
TACO
TIME
Tiic«,«
for
OR EMER-79-1
Boat pilot sa
alone won’t <
*
How does the man who pilots
a jet boat down the Willamette
River twice a day feel about the
protesters who say he should
be kept off the river?
Roger Lefler admits that the
protests bother him, but that
they won t keep him off the
river
“It's like moving into a neigh
borhood and having all your
neighbors come out with signs
Holly is Having a Party
and You’re Invited!
Holly is celebrating her first year on campus with lots of
goodies for you:
• one free Gantsy's ice cream cone with each purchase
of regular price jeans
• dresses reduced 30%
• 14 Kt. gold charm holders reduced from 35.00 to 22.00
• "mystery” discounts given daily
And free birthday cake for everyone!
Mlvs J
880 East 13th
(on campus)
342-2320
ys protests
3round him
because you’re a two person
family moving into a three
bedroom home."
Letter says he has been extra
careful to avoid disturbing
canoes or drift boats on the
water
'Til faint at the sight of my
own blood, let alone someone
else’s." he says
What’s to insure that other jet
boaters will be as careful7
"First, we have to get per
mission to be here They’d have
to go through the whole
process I did." he says
"If I see another boat doing
something wrong. I’ll stop.
"The best process for
complaints (about his boat) is to
just come and talk to me
Kinko’s
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