New Boating Regulations Approved

Linn/Marion, Lane, Lincoln and Baker County Petitions Get Action

Boating regulations at several locations around the state were given a minor tune-up during the Oregon State Marine Board meeting, held in North Bend on Tuesday, June 27.

On Detroit Lake bordering Linn and Marion counties, the board agreed with a petition asking that a "pass through" zone on the northeast end of the lake adjacent to Kane's Marina be further restricted to a "5 mile per hour, slow-no-wake" zone. Petitioners sought the change because boaters are squeezed between a steep shoreline and the marina, and large wakes can damage moored boats and injure marina users. The change adds another four minutes transit time for boaters accessing the Detroit Lake Marina east of the Hwy 22 bridge, which the board agreed was unfortunate. However, given the geography of the lake and the location of the marinas, there appeared to be no other way to resolve the conflict.

This isn't the first time the Marine Board has tried to alleviate wake-related problems in this area of Detroit Lake. The board first adopted the "Pass Through" zone regulation in 1996 as a compromise to a similar petition. At the time, the board agreed to review the regulation in the future if the pass-through zone failed to adequately resolve the issue.

A regulation change on Fern Ridge Reservoir in Lane County will affect two unique type of watercraft by closing about 1/3 of the lake's surface area to their use. The Army Corps of Engineers and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife jointly requested that air boats - boats which us an airplane-type propeller for propulsion - and non-displacement hull hover craft - craft which hover on a cushion of air - be prohibited from areas of the lake containing emergent vegetation. These marshy areas are not accessible by most other types of boats and provide habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife, especially during nesting seasons.

The new regulation prohibits airboat and hovercraft operation on 3,195 acres of the 9,360 acre lake. Areas affected include Coyote Creek, Amazon Bay, South Marsh and the Long Tom Area.

In addition to this regulation, the board adopted language limiting power boat operation on Fern Ridge Reservoir south of Highway 126 to electric motor only. This area is shallow and marshy, with abundant marsh grasses and few defined channels. The existing highway and low bridges provide an easily definable barrier for electric and non-electric power boats.

East of the mountains, the board adopted electric-motor-only regulations for two Baker County reservoirs, Higgins and Balm Creek. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife requested that the board restrict use of motors on these waterbodies. The two reservoirs are small with no developed ramps. They are irrigation reservoirs, but are popular with local anglers. They are also primarily privately owned, with most of the public access via private land. Landowners who control the access complained about the noise and that wakes from larger boats were damaging the earthen dams. Marine Board staff visited the sites and agreed that larger boats were not appropriate on the waterbodies. Local attendees of public meetings supported the electric-only option.

A petition to restrict personal watercraft use on a small portion of Devils Lake in Lincoln County failed, due in part to recognition that existing laws, placement of a marker buoy and public education should already meet the petitioners' needs. Petitioners requested that a small cove be limited to slow-no-wake operation of personal watercraft. Existing laws already restrict boat operation near shore and docks, largely encompassing the cove. Lincoln County Marine Patrol officers placed marker buoys at the cove noting the restrictions. The board felt new rules would be redundant.