Jefferson Co. SO seeks Lake Billy Chinook boat moorage limits
The Oregon State Marine Board is seeking public comment on a proposed boat moorage rule requested by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in the wake of an issue with a large boat that called Lake Billy Chinook home for the past couple of years.
The Great Escape, a 44-foot cabin cruiser, moored on the Metolius River arm of Lake Billy Chinook near the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, but the tribes asked that it be moved, so its owner anchored it this summer in a small cove north of Cove Palisades State Park, eventually drawing objections from a state parks official.
The owner eventually agreed to move the 27-year-old boat to the Oregon coast, according to The Bulletin.
The proposed rule concept is: “For all waterbodies in the county: no boat shall moor in a location for more than 16 days without moving at least five river miles from the original location. No boat may return to the same location within the same calendar year. No vessels shall be left overnight unattended except in approved marinas and docks.”
The State Marine Board said the intent of the request is to prevent long-term mooring of boats on Jefferson County’s waters, ensure boats are not left unattended, and preserve unrestricted water access for all users.
Written comments will be accepted from December 1 through December 20 ,by 5 pm and can be submitted via email to osmb.rulemaking@state.or.us or by U.S. mail to: June LeTarte, Administrative Rules Coordinator, 435 Commercial Street NE, Suite 400, P.O. Box 14145, Salem, OR 97309-5056. Comments via telephone will not be accepted.
To view the public notice, visit http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/Pages/admin/OSMB_Rulemaking_Newpage.aspx .
The agency’s staff plans to make its recommendation to the five-member Marine Board at its Jan. 7 meeting in Portland.
