JET SKIS FACING NATIONAL PARKS BAN.Byline: Philip Brasher Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Personal watercraft personal watercraft n. 1. A motorized recreational water vehicle normally ridden by straddling a seat. 2. (used with a pl. verb) Such water vehicles considered as a group. such as Jet Skis would be banned from all national parks This is a list of national parks ordered by nation. Africa
The ban would affect nine parks where personal watercraft are now permitted, including Mount Rainier A format for providing platform interoperability and native OS support for CD-RW and DVD+RW disks. The "MRW" or "CD-MRW" format enables files to be saved to RW disks as if they were hard disks (from any Save dialog or dragged and dropped). in Washington and Voyageurs in Minnesota. They still would be allowed at 13 other units administered by the Park Service, 11 national recreation areas and two national seashores, Gulf Island in Florida and Mississippi and Padre Island Padre Island (päd`rē, păd`rē), low, sandy island, c.115 mi (185 km) long, less than 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, S Tex. It is characterized by large, irregular sand dunes, sparse vegetation, and a strong prevailing wind off the Gulf of Mexico. in Texas, at the discretion of the local superintendent. And the prohibition would be delayed for two years at a dozen other units, mostly national seashores and lake shores, to allow for further study. Park Service officials plan to publish the rules this summer and then take public comment for 90 days, after which time the rules could be revised. They are not expected to take effect for up to a year. ``We've still got quite a ways to go,'' Dennis Burnett, the Park Service's regulations manager, said Tuesday. ``This list could obviously change based on the number and type of comments we receive.'' Park superintendents were told recently not to allow any additional use of personal watercraft while the ban is under consideration. Personal watercraft are permitted in more than 30 of the 87 units that the Park Service administers. The national parks where they have been allowed also include Biscayne, Fla.; Isle Royale Isle Roy·ale An island of northern Michigan in Lake Superior near the coast of Ontario. French fur traders named the island in 1671. Native Americans mined the island's copper for centuries before ceding the island to the United States in 1843. , Mich.; Big Bend Big Bend A region of southwest Texas on the Mexican border in a triangle formed by a bend in the Rio Grande. The area includes deep river canyons, desert wilderness, mountains rising to 2,386. , Texas; Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; and North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of Western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the US state of Washington. and Olympic, Wash. Personal watercraft makers have opposed the ban as unfair and unnecessary, arguing that new models are quieter and cleaner. Their users are becoming more courteous and safer, they say. Americans now own 1.2 million personal watercraft and sales are running at 200,000 a year. They account for 11 percent of all watercraft registered in the country but 35 percent of the accidents involving vessels. In proposing its ban, the Park Service said personal watercraft are ``often operated in an aggressive manner'' and are the subject of frequent complaints about noise and unsafe operation. Their use ``has a significant potential to conflict with other visitors' enjoyment of park values and purposes,'' the agency said. Voyageurs National Park Voyageurs National Park, 218,200 acres (88,340 hectares), N Minnesota. The park contains forested lake country noted for its sports fishing and glacial features. In the 18th cent. the region was a trade route for French-Canadian voyageurs (fur traders). , where 2 percent of the visitors use personal watercraft, plans to impose a temporary ban this fall. Superintendent Barbara West has said Jet Skis and the like generate an ``enormous number'' of complaints. Several other parks, including Yellowstone and Glacier in the Rocky Mountains area, already have adopted such temporary bans. Conservationists had feared the Park Service would give local superintendents wide authority to exempt their units from the ban. ``It's a long time in coming, but they've finally gotten out a good rule,'' said Kevin Collins, a spokesman for the National Parks and Conservation Association. |
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