Forest Service again considers ban on gas-powered boats at Waldo Lake.

Byline: Scott Maben The Register-Guard

The U.S. Forest Service is resurrecting a controversial proposal to ban gasoline-powered boats at Waldo Lake, one of the purest bodies of water in the world.

The agency moved in 2001 to phase out gas-powered boats on the Central Cascades lake, but backed away from the plan after finding technical mistakes in the environmental analysis supporting the decision.

Now, the Willamette National Forest is doing a second assessment and expects to make a similar proposal, said Jim Williams, recreation staff officer for the Middle Fork Ranger District.

The main complaint driving the proposal is that the sound of gas-powered engines spoils the solitude expected by most visitors to the lake, 20 miles east of Oakridge. It is Oregon's second-deepest body of water behind Crater Lake and is known for its crystal-clear cobalt blue water.

The Forest Service gathered more support for the noise stance last summer when it hired researchers from the University of Florida and Pennsylvania State University to survey more than 400 people who camped or boated at Waldo. Results are still being tabulated, but two-thirds to three-quarters of those interviewed favored prohibiting gas-powered boats, Williams said.

"It confirms what we've been hearing anecdotally and subjectively from the public for a long time," he said.

Longtime Waldo boaters such as Janet and Robert Dunning of Eugene appealed the previous decision and don't think gas-powered motors are a problem. They feel they're being pushed out of a place they've enjoyed for decades.

"There's not that many motorboats on that lake," Janet Dunning said. "I think it's awfully selfish to lock up a lake for a few people."

Her husband used to work as a fire lookout near Waldo and maintained trails and campsites around the lake. The real threat, he said, comes from growing crowds and people who leave trash.

"It isn't the motorboats," Robert Dunning said. "It's people that's causing it."

He argues that elderly and disabled visitors will have less opportunity to enjoy the lake if they can't go out in motorboats.

Dan Geiger of Eugene is in favor of the gas engine ban. Electric engines, which are quieter, are a good alternative available to everyone, he said.

"They now have the battery capacity and power to drive boats of a variety of different sizes, certainly up to the 10 mph limit on the lake," Geiger said.

Preserving the quiet at Waldo is important, he said, because the lake is buffered by wilderness areas on three sides.

"The character of the lake basin matches with a nonmotorized or quieter wilderness setting," he said. "That's not the case when a gas-powered motor or several of them are cruising the lake."

Opponents of gas-powered boats also have feared that fuel leaks may be spoiling the water. But numerous studies, including sediment samples this past fall, couldn't pin water quality problems on boat engines.

"We haven't found any demonstrable pollution from internal combustion engines to date," Williams said.

Officials also are beginning to rethink speculation that the lake's purity has been compromised by heavy recreational use, fish stocking and leaky campground toilets. The clarity of the lake has fluctuated year to year, with no definite downward trend, Williams said.

"To the best of my understanding, I don't believe people can conclusively say what has changed, how it has changed or why it has changed," he said.

Yet state and federal agencies have shifted management practices on the belief that humans may be ruining the lake.

The Forest Service banned camping on Rhododendron Island and on the lake's north shore to protect fragile soils. This summer, the agency will finish replacing flush toilets and septic systems with composting toilets.

Also, the state quit stocking fish in Waldo after environmentalists argued that the practice may have multiplied nutrient levels in the water.

But it's noise pollution that most rankles opponents of gas-powered boats and influenced the forest's previous decision, Williams said.

"We believed this is really more of a social issue around the kind of recreation experience people wanted to have," he said. "The effects of noise on the setting is probably what generated most of the concern."

WALDO LAKE REVIEW

The U.S. Forest Service this summer may decide to phase out gas-powered boats at Waldo Lake over two or three years. Other changes that could emerge from an environmental assessment expected in September include:

A ban on floatplanes: They don't land on Waldo often, but when pilots do touch down they trigger a flurry of complaints.

Controlling expansion of dispersed campsites: Forest officials don't want camping in undeveloped sites around the lake to expand beyond what occurs now. If it does, they may impose restrictions or even site reservations.

Stricter special use permit conditions: More outfitters want to bring groups to Waldo during the peak summer season, but the Forest Service doesn't want this to crowd out the general public.

Mail comments to: Waldo Lake Recreation Use Analysis, Rick Scott, District Ranger, Middle Fork Ranger District, Willamette National Forest, 46375 Highway 58, Westfir, OR 97492.

E-mail comments to: [e-mail]

Questions: Call Brian McGinley at 541-367-9234 or Jim Williams at 782-2283.