Forest Service makes no changes to BWCAW motorboat quotas in C

[Lee Borgersen]

4/23/2011 5:03:00 Pm

     Forest Service makes no changes to BWCAW motorboat quotas in Chain of Lakes decision

  by Nick Wognum........Ely Echo

After a legal battle that spans 12 years, the Forest Service decided not to make adjustments to BWCAW motorboat quotas in what has become known as the "chain of lakes" issue.

Prior to 1999, homeowners and resort owners on Moose, South Farm and Saganaga lakes were issued a sticker to allow them access into BWCAW lakes that could be reached by motorboat without portaging.

Following a 1999 Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that said lakes connected by water passage should not be considered as one continuous lake, home owners, guests at resorts and the general public have competed for day use motor permits.

In 2002, the Forest Service decided to increase the number of permits to take into account the use from boats with the stickers.

The permit level was 538 per year for Moose Lake. The Forest Service determined there was a demand of 14,796 for those permits and changed the permit level to 2,895.

In January of 2003, special interest groups including the Friends of the Boundary Waters and the Sierra Club, sued the Forest Service, which was joined by Ely-based Conservationists With Common Sense.

In 2006, the court ordered the Forest Service to redetermine the number of motorboat permits on the lake chains.

The court said the Forest Service's recalculation of motor boat quotas on three chains of lakes and towboat quotas was "arbitrary and capricious."

In 2007 the Forest Service attempted to determine if there was additional information that could help calculate average actual annual motorboat use in 1976, 1977, and 1978 as directed by the court.

According to USFS Supervisor Jim Sanders, the Forest Service asked Cook and Lake counties to provide information on who owned cabins or homes on the three lakes 30 years prior.

"Neither the counties nor the interested parties provided new information that would give us more accurate information in determining the actual amount of use that occurred in 1976-1978," Sanders wrote to CWCS.

"I do not know of any other actions we can take to more accurately determine the actual use that occurred in 1976-1978. I believe we used the best information we had available when I signed the Chain of Lakes Decision Notice in 2002.

"However, Judge Tunheim's ruling states that this information is not accurate enough for him to uphold in his ruling. Because we were not able to identify any new or more accurate information, I do not believe there is any way for the Forest Service to reach a new decision which would overcome the arbitrary and capricious standard set by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Tunheim in their rulings.

"Therefore, I have decided that the motorboat quotas for Moose to Newfound and Sucker Lakes, Saganaga Lake, and South Farm Lake will not be changed," Sanders wrote.

CWCS president Nancy McReady said her organization was disappointed but did not rule out pursuing further legal action.

"Needless to say, Conservationists with Common Sense is not happy with the U.S. Forest Service's decision to more or less give up on this issue," said McReady. "We will discuss our options with CWCS board members and with our attorney. This has been going on for over 12 years, since the elimination of exempt stickers for property owners, resorts and outfitters on Moose, Farm and Saganaga Lakes. There remains inadequate permits on the Chain of Lakes."

Moose Lake will stay at 538, South Farm at 267 and Saganaga at 1,571.

Sanders also said in his letter that changes are being made to the current motor boat permit system.

"One of those issues we want to improve is the day use motor permit system. During our review of the Chain of Lakes issue, I directed staff to evaluate the day use motor permit system to determine if there were changes we could make to better manage the system.

"We also reviewed permit data from the past several years. Through this review, we identified changes which I believe will be more fair and equitable for everyone. These changes will also make it easier for people to cancel reservations they do not plan to use, so others can have an opportunity to enjoy time in the BWCAW. The changes are outlined below:

1. Eliminate overbooking for all day use motor quotas starting permit season 2012.

2. Allow cancelled day use motor permits to be put back into the system immediately and made available for use later in the week.

"Overbooking was established because the permit system was not capable of putting all cancelled permits back into the system and the Agency wanted to make all of the permits available for use. Permits that were cancelled within two days of the use week were not available because of system limitations.

"The current reservation system is capable of putting all canceled permits back in the system and making them available to the public at a random time within the same use week. Therefore, there is no longer a need to overbook.

"Our data shows that the majority of no shows come from cooperators. Therefore, we will be working with the cooperators, in addition to other users, to encourage them to cancel unused permits so they can be made available for other users, as well as other cooperators. This will allow all visitors the opportunity to obtain the permits that otherwise were not available for use.

"I recognize there will still be permits that are not used and not cancelled. However, if even a small number of 'no shows' are cancelled and made available for others to use, the actual day use motor permits will be better utilized. This will help address some of the concerns raised about the lack of permit availability on the Chain of Lakes. We will continue to monitor the permit system and look for other changes we can make that will enhance the fairness, equitability, and use of the permit system," wrote Sanders.

For Ely resort owner Bob LaTourell, Sanders' ideas to improve the permit situation ring hollow.

"I think they tried to put it out there as some way to compensate for the lack of correcting the system," said LaTourell. "It's just more of a smokescreen than anything. I understand what they're doing but it's not the important part of the equation."

LaTourell said the Forest Service's decision to stop trying to right a wrong does not sit well.  

"The fact that between the courts and the Forest Service we're going to end up with management that's not in line with the law said and what the forest plan said, it blows my mind. It's not acceptable.

"It goes against what was promised in 1978 for resorts with the buyout option. It's a huge cutback of use that was promised," said LaTourell.