Re: [Paddlewise] ACA Critical Judgment report

Nick Schade wrote:
> last week I organized a {meeting} for our government boating
> safety official and the local Coast Guard guy in charge of
> recreational boating to talk to our local kayaking club. By
> doing so we have opened a line of communication with the
> people in charge of regulating us. We learned what their
> plans were, why they were thinking of doing what they want
> to do.  It gave us an opportunity to tell our opinion of their
> ideas. And not being experts on paddling they are happy to
> listen to people who are.
>
Take the regulators' comments with a grain of salt.  In '87, the Illinois
DNR tagged a canoe & kayak registration clause onto a bill that was
revised to address drunk powerboaters - which was passed by the
legislature before any paddlers found out about this bill.  The law was
then fought for almost a year, legislators introduced bills to nullify
the registration requirement, one of which passed the the house and
senate, only to be vetoed by the governor.  Why?  Because under the guise
of doing something good for boaters (registration dollars for boating
access, a means for recovering lost/stolen boats, etc.), the state was
most interested in both Federal funding (based on the number of
registered boats) and being able to enforce collection of sales tax on
boats that were otherwise out of the system.   Maybe the CT state
officials are truly willing to learn more about boating to make the
regulations 'fit', but in Illinois it came down to increased income for
the state coffers.


> If we are not willing to talk to the people who would
> regulate us, we will not have any right to complain
> when they do things we don't like.
>
Absolutely true.  So many people are willing to bitch and moan about
gov't regulations - either passed or proposed - but so few are willing to
contact legislators or gov't officials..... or even vote.


> People are dying while paddling. Something can be done to
> keep that from happening.
>
Can it?  Even with driver education and pretty stringent driving rules,
tens of thousands of people die every year on the nations highways. Would
regulating paddling by imposing education/certification courses really
reduce the number of paddling deaths per year?  Perhaps for some of the
ignorant/unknowing, but at what cost?  There will still be the experts
who die pushing the limits, the unfortunate who die beacause they were in
the wrong place at the wrong time, and those who die beacuse they think
the 'rules' don't apply to them.

And if a state is going to regulate people who buy boats, what about
people who buy bicycles, power tools, or snowmobiles - which also are
associated with people dying.....



> In Maine the Coast Guard has help organize retailers and
> commercial guides to create a basic safety brochure that
> can be given to new paddlers. This sort of effort may go a
> long way to holding off the regulatory urge, but it needs the
> cooperation of the existing kayaking community.
>
There are regulations in high-traffic paddling areas.  On the lower
Youghiogheny River in PA, the rafting outfitters have a mandatory 10 (?)
minute talk for their customers, ditto for rafting customers on a number
of WV rivers.  In MO, the National Park Service 'closes' the Current and
Jack's Fork Rivers when water levels are 'too high'.  Are these the best
possible regulations for all?  Probably not - but they do address local
situations - hopefully for the benefit of society as a whole.

Maybe the best thing to reach the novice paddler (who needs the most
education) would be for the ACA or the Coast Guard or the State
governments to put together a brochure on safe paddling (which should
cover safety topics for river, still water, and open water scenarios)
that *must* accompany every new boat sold.  In this way the information
is available to the new boat buyer, and experienced boat buyers are not
inconvenienced.

The ACA, in conjunction with the Coast Guard and the National Paddlesport
Safety System just came out with three separate safety videos geared to
whitewater kayakers, coastal kayakers, and whitewater rafters.  Maybe
State or Federal funding could be found to support the distribution of
one of these tapes with the purchase of a new boat?

There are no easy answers, but I agree with Nick that there *must* be
paddler input to get the best possible answer.

Play Hard,
Erik Sprenne
(at the southern end of Lake Michigan)

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