Printable VersionThe Bureau of Land Management is making its presence known on the Lake again — this time possibly causing delays with 18 U.S. Coast Guard-approved safety buoys.
“We were upset about that and we wonder why, if it’s in the interest of public safety, that this can’t be moved along quicker in some way,” said Marine Association Executive Director Jim Salscheider. “(The BLM’s) agenda, whatever that may be, seems more important than public safety.”
BLM Lake Havasu Assistant Field Manager Mike Henderson said because the buoys would be placed in the organization’s jurisdiction, placement would require a BLM permit and an environmental review.
“It’s going to be a land-use permit and it has to go through the same process of a right-of-way or lease (the marine association) will have to apply for,” Henderson said, adding that the environmental review process could move faster because of other environmental assessments performed on the Lake previously. “It’s still going to be several months from the time we get it, and we haven’t received anything yet.”
Henderson said the BLM could possibly approve the application sooner if safety concerns are evident, but added the marine association would be required to make a case in the application.
“BLM is concerned with the hazards on the other side of the Lake too,” Henderson said. “We’re going to do whatever is necessary to make sure hazard areas are identified in the future.”
Salscheider said approval from the Coast Guard took roughly six weeks and the process was sped up because of public safety concerns.
“With the Coast Guard, when we applied, they told us a commanding officer could simply note the safety concern and approve the application on the spot,” Salscheider said. “Why wouldn’t the BLM have the same provision? We hope and expect they’ll expedite this for public safety.”
The marine association held a fund-raising event in November 2009, and after raising enough money for the buoys, received support from San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Rod Hoops, Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan and Chemehuevi Indian Tribe Chairman Charles Wood.
“Despite that fact and despite the fact that the marine association is paying for them, installing them and maintaining them, the BLM is insisting that we file for a permit for their anchors,” Salscheider wrote in an email. “There is also a fee attached for the permit and possibly an ongoing annual fee as well.”
BLM representatives announced in June that the organization is currently administering an environmental assessment on the Lake to determine Special Recreation Permit Regulations and possible fees for “nearly every boating activity on the Lake.” The organization also performed an environmental assessment for shoreline and on-the-water vendors on the Lake earlier this year.
Lands and waters at the 450-foot Lake elevation and below are Bureau of Reclamation withdrawn lands, Henderson said previously. “These lands (and waters) are managed by the BLM under Secretarial Order No. 2915 that states, ‘the purpose of this Order is to assign to the BLM full responsibility for the implementation of the Plan (Lower Colorado River Land Use Plan, 1964), including; negotiation, execution, and administration of leases; the administration of Reclamation lands used or to be used for recreation or wildlife activities; administration of the special permit program on the lands; and for coordination with plans, programs, or activities of bureaus and offices that relate to or affect the Plan.’”
BLM representatives previously indicated that enforcement began in July 2009 when city officials asked for assistance in the removal of all shoreline and floating vendors from Rotary Community Park and London Bridge beaches. But Field Manager Ramone McCoy said those events only “sped up the process.”
Salscheider said he didn’t anticipate any of the actions taken by the BLM following the removal of the vendors.
“All we were asking is that they (were) removed from city’s beaches,” he said. “We had no expectation that this would lead to anything other than the vendors being removed from our beaches. … The buoy program is totally different from that. Because it’s in the interest in public safety, and it’s a dozen or so objects in 2 to 4 feet of water only 100 yards from shore. It’s hard to imagine all these requirements would be necessary. I really hope boaters aren’t at risk for the six months that this takes for them to finish.”
Salscheider added that one of his major concerns is safety, closely followed by the impact on tourism.
“There is nothing on record that formally says how many incidences there are near those dangerous areas, but any boater that’s been on this Lake for a considerable amount of time has seen it or done it,” he said. “If you’re a first time boater and there’s nothing warning you that this could happen and you damage your boat like that, what if you don’t come back because of it?”
San Diego Coast Guard Officer in Charge of Aides to Navigation Mike Tapp, who assisted in the Coast Guard permitting process for the buoys, said it’s not uncommon for more than one agency to be involved in granting permits.
“In our opinion the marine association is very well suited to maintain the program they’ve initiated and it’s a worthwhile program because it addresses those safety issues,” Tapp said. “It’s not necessarily typical for other organizations to require approval on a Lake but it’s not atypical either that another organization would have other requirements. … But from the Coast Guard’s perspective, there is a maritime safety aspect and we think it would increase safety on the Lake.”
You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com
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