Sentiment Mixed On Boat Launch Plans
Jim Foote says it’s a tragic waste of taxpayer money.
To Ron Green it’s the long-awaited answer to Coeur d’Alene’s boat access problems.
But most public sentiment on the Bureau of Land Management’s plans for boat launches on Blackwell Island seems to fall somewhere in between.
About 100 people Tuesday night told BLM officials their thoughts on the agency’s five options for the 32-acre site west of U.S. Highway 95 south of the Spokane River.
The five alternatives range from a dense development with five boat launches, 170 parking spaces and overnight recreational vehicle camping to a rustic single boat launch and a few picnic tables. And those aren’t the only choices, said BLM recreational planner Terry Kincaid.
“We can mix and match as public input dictates,” he said. “We’re trying to provide balance.”
The agency bought the land last March from the Robert Hall family for $1.25 million to provide boat access to the lake to relieve congestion at the Third Street dock. Kootenai County chipped in $130,000.
The county has 39 public boat launches and 45 public docking areas. Since less than 2 percent of the lake’s shoreline is publicly owned, it’s difficult to find places for boaters to enter the lake, said Eric Thomson, agency area manager.
An estimated 21,000 registered boats use county waterways.
City resident Green said all the plans were necessary and “quite nice.”
“If you don’t live on the lake, how do you get your boat in the water now?” he asked. “I’m pretty sensitive to people who need access.”
But Foote said Blackwell Island is home to waterfowl and songbirds and about six acres of regulated wetlands. Nearby canals provide cutthroat trout spawning areas.
“That island is a pearl; I hate to see them do anything with it,” he said. “They’re going to destroy it, and they’ll use our tax dollars to do it.”
About 40 people at a July 1994 public meeting told the BLM they preferred minimal development, but officials said other comments indicate the public wants more boat ramps.
“We’re trying to gauge what’s best,” Thomson said.
Most residents Tuesday offered specific suggestions to improve the conceptual plans.
Coeur d’Alene resident Clyde Sheppard said he preferred any plan that prohibited Jet Skis.
Ed Schneider said the agency should make boat traffic flow in only one direction through the canals.
“I think most of the people would favor maximum development there,” Green said.
Joshua Junker, however, wanted to know why anything needed to be done.
More boat ramps will draw more boaters, who will demand even more boat ramps, which will hurt the environment, he said.
“The world is dying,” he said, in a written comment.
“So are we.”
The agency will accept comments until Feb. 23.
BLM officials will then draft an environmental assessment based on public comments and agency staff suggestions, said natural resource specialist Bill Cook.
A final plan is expected in May. That’s when the agency will estimate costs and begin looking for money to cover development costs.
MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition