T
GEM
OF
THE
CASCADES
Pristine Waldo Lake faces
renewed threats
B Y T E D T AY L O R
P H O T O B Y T E D T AY L O R
dig
it!
he struggle to protect the peace, quiet and purity
of Waldo Lake and the surrounding forests has
been going on for decades and it’s likely to
continue a while longer as various factions and
interests make their cases in court, in front of
agencies, and out in the public arena. The fi ght
has become so convoluted that it might take the Oregon
Legislature to eventually resolve the confl icts over usage
and jurisdiction.
Currently the hottest topic is the 2010 prohibition of gas-
powered motorboats and fl oat planes on the high-altitude
lake 70 miles east of Eugene. A public meeting of the
Oregon State Marine Board (OSMB) is planned for April 10
in Springfi eld (see box for information). So far about 3,000
comments in favor of the ban have been submitted to OMB,
and only a few dozen comments have been against the ban.
“We’re strongly behind keeping the ban in place,”
says David Stowe, Waldo Preservation Coordinator of the
Juniper Group of the Sierra Club in Bend. “As far as I can
tell, it’s the only large, motor-free lake in the Western U.S.
and maybe the whole U.S., certainly the only one in Oregon
and the Northwest.” He calls Waldo the “unspoken gem of
the central Cascades.”
Stowe says one of the lesser-known problems with
motorboats on the lake was dispersed camping: “Boaters
taking stuff to the far shore and tearing things up and
littering, the noise of generators and a lot of other things. The
Forest Service trail maintenance crews had some diffi culty
managing it and they are short-staffed and didn’t have time
to take a motorboat across and clean up the messes.” He
said damage from dispersed camping is “not a problem
anymore” with canoes and kayaks.
“And we certainly don’t want to see fl oat planes landing
there,” says Stowe. “That’s just incredibly stupid beyond
description and the arguments they are making for that don’t
hold water at all.” He says there are many other lakes where
the noisy fl oat planes can land and take off.
Those who have previously commented on the motor ban
will need to resubmit their testimony, says Doug Heiken of
Oregon Wild. “It’s really important for people to participate
this time because all the old comments are being wiped off
the record and they need to start fresh.”
Even though the public sentiment has always been
strong in favor of the gas-motor ban, Heiken says this latest
rule-making session in response to legal challenges could
go either way.
“It’s not clear that we have the votes,” says Heiken.
“Some of the Marine Board members were offended that
former Gov. Ted Kulongoski was applying political pressure
to try to make this happen, and they felt like their arms were
being twisted. So there’s a little bit of bad feelings by some
members and we need to overcome that.”
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