Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, near Munising, Michigan.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore will accept comments on the use of personal watercraft (PWC) at the park until Nov. 9, part of a public scoping process as officials develop a new environmental assessment and reevaluate existing regulations.
Currently, a 2005 Lakeshore rule limits the use of PWCs – better known by brand names like Jet Ski and Sea-Doo – to the 8-mile stretch between Sand Point and Miners Beach. Within 200 feet of the shore, PWCs must travel at no-wake speed perpendicular to the shoreline.
In 2002, Lakeshore officials implemented a ban on PWCs. A 2000 Park Service rule prohibited them from national parks, with exceptions for 21 parks, lakeshores and seashores, including Pictured Rocks. Those units were given two years to evaluate PWC use. Pictured Rocks officials chose to ban them.
Following a 2005 environmental assessment and public review, officials reinstituted PWCs, limited to one segment of the Lakeshore.
A lawsuit filed in 2008 by Bluewater Network, the Wilderness Society and two individuals sought to restore the ban, taking issue with the Lakeshore’s assessment. In 2010, Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that PWC use could continue, but the park would have to back its decision with a more comprehensive analysis. This comment period is part of that analysis.
Submit comments to the park online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/piropwc_ or in writing:
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore PWC Environmental Assessment P.O. Box 40 Munising, MI 49862 Fax: (906) 387-4025