Forest Service admits opener boo-boo

[Lee Borgersen]

 Forest Service admits opener boo-boo


The U.S. Forest Service made a mistake and admitted the permit system for fishing opener was...well...screwed up.

District Ranger Mark Van Every said last week, "We made an unintended consequence occur that nobody planned on but it happened. We are putting precautions in place to insure it doesn't happen in the future."

What happened was the overnight motorized quota for Basswood Lake from Fall Lake was put in the computer incorrectly.

Normally 40 permits are set aside for the days leading up to opener. This year there were four permits. Anglers who have a tradition of camping out on Jackfish and Pipestone were shut out and understandably, very upset.

The motorized overnight permits are good for a week at a time, starting on a Saturday. The week that starts May 2 was the one where the number of permits was short of what's traditionally available.

"This year the first day of May is also the last day of the permit week, Friday. Rather than a week's worth of permits on one day, we shifted everything one day. What occurred is the first week is also right before opening fishing so for Fall Lake there were only four permits available," said Van Every.

The mistake appears to be an honest one.

"We didn't recognize it at the time and by the time we did, all the quotas were already taken so we didn't have the opportunity to make an adjustment after the fact," said Van Every.

The ranger was apologetic and up front about what happened. But it won't help those who hoped to carry on a tradition with their children and grandchildren of camping on Basswood Lake and fishing the opener by motorboat.

"For this year there's not anything we can do. I know some of those people got permits for May 9 so they can go in on the day their permit is eligible for. Unfortunately the only way for us to do something was prior to the lottery. It wasn't possible for us to go back and add more permits," he said.

Van Every has thus far proven to be an up front and honest ranger to deal with. His admission of an error is not always the norm when it comes to government procedures and what appears to be a gaffe.

"It's a difficult situation and we made an unintentional error. All I can do is apologize for that," said Van Every.

For those who were shut out of their traditional trip, the apology may help soothe the wounds. And, hopefully, they'll be able to battle the traffic on the portages opening day and find a way to hook some walleyes next Saturday.

"I hope they'll still have the opportunity to go up there," said Van Every. "I think there will still be some fish left."

Well, if the Forest Service could guarantee full stringers, maybe the permit screw-up could be overlooked. Maybe.

[ironranger29]

They should be obligated to pay back all the people for the money they spent on a trip they just got shut out on!  This kind of mistake should be "fixed on the spot" cause lets be real. They dont give a CRAP! They just say, "Sorry, sorry for the inconvenience everyone" and its all better right! Oh well state funding for forest management and many others will prolly be gettin shut down alltogether if things dont start pickin up.