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Brian Berry, WATERCRAFT BAN Banned waterbike supporters fight to ride in Biscayne
BY CURTIS MORGAN Miami-Dade—Personal watercraft builders, sellers and owners want back into Biscayne National Park, insisting they have cleaned up their act -- and machines -- and should no longer be treated like the smoking, screaming bad boys of boating. In the latest challenge to a six-year-old ban on waterbikes in the Biscayne Bay park, an industry-backed group plans to file papers with the federal government demanding an environmental analysis of waterbike impacts in the park. The original ban -- which went into effect in 2000 at Biscayne and 66 other national parks and sea shores -- was not based on a thorough scientific review, but on old data and a past poor reputation, argues Maureen Healey, executive director of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, who will announce the push today at the Miami International Boat Show. Healey said the industry asked for federal records after a similar request was rejected two years ago. They got back one document from Biscayne. ''There was no science, assessment, no data used in that decision at all,'' said Healey, whose group is a backer of the BOAT Biscayne Coalition. "In essence, what they did was declare the personal watercraft guilty without a fair trial.'' Environmentalists and park managers say problems posed by the waterbikes -- better known by brand names such as Jet Ski and Waverunner -- are well-documented and haven't changed much, despite encouraging reductions in noise and pollution. Mark Lewis, who took over as Biscayne's superintendent last year and wasn't involved in the 2004 request, said the decision to ban waterbikes was done after a review at the national level and there was no requirement for Biscayne to launch a full review. Lewis said he has met with waterbike makers four times and even test-drove some of the cleanest, quietest bikes, but for now will recommend to supervisors in Washington that waterbikes still don't belong in the park. DISTURBANCES The ability to scoot across sensitive shallows can disturb nesting birds, as well as stir up sediment, scare fish and infuriate fishermen, he said. Also, often-dangerous maneuvers like wake-jumping remain a big part of their appeal. ''The personal-watercraft industry is trying to sell these things to the parks as family vessels,'' Lewis said. "They are trying to sell them to the general public as thrill machines.'' Florida, along with California, ranks as a top state for waterbike sales and in the last few years the industry has stepped up efforts to challenge bans, which Healey claimed had cost the industry and related businesses $2.7 billion. South Florida, with some 23,000 registered waterbike owners, has emerged as a prime battleground. Last year, the industry appealed to the state to reopen nearly 400,000 acres of the Lower Keys. Now, it will mount a push in Biscayne, which Healey called the ''crown jewel'' of parks. For waterbike enthusiasts like Danny DiNicola, it just might be. The park covers 174,000 acres and about two-thirds of picturesque Biscayne Bay from just off Key Biscayne south to Card Sound Bridge. DiNicola, a construction estimator from Coconut Grove, can't understand how his waterbikes can possibly be worse than many of the boats he sees plying the bay. ''You can grab a 60-foot speedboat and go through the park at 110 miles per hour,'' he said. "You have operators behind every kind of vessel that you need to deal with.'' The industry believes its argument for Biscayne access are bolstered by 15 environmental reviews at other parks. They say all came back finding little difference between waterbikes and other vessels and recommending at least some access for waterbikes. Dave Bamdas, owner and manager of Riva Motorsports, which sells waterbikes in Pompano Beach and Key Largo, believes a review in Biscayne would prove them cleaner and quieter than most boats. ''All we are saying is please do an environmental assessment and say what is right or wrong,'' he said. A STRUGGLING PARK Environmentalists said Biscayne National Park is already struggling too much. In a report to be released today by the National
Parks Conservation Association, the park gets a ''poor'' rating
for declining water quality and fish stocks and damage to corals
and sea grass beds from errant boaters and overuse. ''You've got a resource that is already impaired,'' he said. "The last thing we have time to worry about is personal watercraft and their impact.'' http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/13883653.htm |
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