Bill Restricting Access to WA Rivers and Shorelines

[60south]

Just read this with some alarm:

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article/view/display/full/id/32138/

Seems like that might impact some dive locations, too.

glenn

[BillZ]

Wow - If this bill is passed it would put an end to diving at sites like Three Tree and Day Island Wall.

[FlyinV]

Fox island west wall and Octopus hole maybe closed off also?
I hope the paddlers can raise the alarm.

Can anyone make sure the Washington Scuba Alliance gets on this ASAP?

[RoxnDox]

(Unprintabl)!!! I'll pass this on to my kayak fishing forum, too. Not whitewater and more salt than rivers, but the same impact.

Jim

[BillZ]

Fox island west wall and Octopus hole maybe closed off also?
I hope the paddlers can raise the alarm.

Can anyone make sure the Washington Scuba Alliance gets on this ASAP?

I posted a quick note to the WSA Facebook page.

[FlyinV]

Hopefully the fishermen get wind of the bill as they have the numbers that could get this stopped right away.

[ljjames]

From my friend Thomas O'Keefe from American Whitewater...

I am pretty confident this bill is not going anywhere. That being said, it's a great platform to remind our state representatives of the importance of public access to water--and especially those small little pieces of public land and streets ends. My focus tends to be rivers but this would also impact shoreline access points used by divers. At the hearing, Departments of Ecology provided some great testimony in opposition top the bill reminding legislators of the Shoreline Management Act and provisions for public access.

I was pretty sure that a bill like this wouldn't go anywhere once folks got wind of it, but its very good to keep people aware of how things are all connected, and how a bill being proposed for river access can have broad sweeping impact on other stakeholders, and how we need to communicate and work together.

[60south]

Thank you Laura.

Agreed on all counts. I sympathize with landowners who are dealing with such nuisances, but IMO it's better dealt with as a local issue rather than state-wide legislation.

glenn

[CaptnJack]

Lord what will they think up next. I agree that particular bill is probably too extreme to pass but a "compromise" might advance. I can't see the governor signing it tho, thank gawd.