NEWS
from the Miami Herald

Posted on Wed, Aug. 18, 2004

BISCAYNE NATIONAL PARK

Industry Group Making Waves to Get Water-bike Ban Lifted

The water-bike industry wants an environmental impact study to get the crafts --
banned from Biscayne National Park -- back on the water there.

BY LISA ENGEL
lengel@herald.com

A coalition of personal watercraft groups is launching a campaign to bring water bikes back to Biscayne National Park, four years after the federal government banned them from the area that stretches from Key Biscayne to North Key Largo.
The Personal Watercraft Industry Association says that the crafts, known by their Kawasaki brand name Jet Ski, are quieter and have less of an impact on the environment than earlier models.

The group plans to file a petition today with the U.S. Department of the Interior, asking for an environmental assessment of water bikes on the park. The study was allowed for when the government enacted the ban.

''They are no worse than any other motorized boats on the water,'' said Jeff Ludwig, regulatory affairs manager for the association. "The engines have changed and are 75 percent cleaner, quieter, safer and environmentally friendly than they used to be.''

The coalition, known as Biscayne BOAT -- for ''Begin Our Assessment Today'' -- will formally announce its request at 10 a.m. today at Jet Ski of Miami, 3800 NW 27th Ave.

Monika Mayr, Biscayne National's assistant superintendent, said Tuesday the park's staff had already met with the industry coalition and wasn't "alarmed.''

''They are following the right process. They are perfectly valid to want to have the rules evaluated,'' she said. ''There is no reason not to have them looked at again.'' The group has filed similar petitions affecting other parks nationwide, Ludwig said. Water bikes were allowed back into six of those areas, including Lake Powell National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona, and Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.

In 2000, the government banned the bikes from 66 parks and national seashores around the country, including all 172,000 acres of Biscayne National and Canaveral National Seashore north of Cocoa Beach.

The crafts had earlier been banned from Everglades National Park and the Lower Keys. Key Biscayne also recently decided to ban water bikes on its beach. That ban take effect on Labor Day.

Aside from the bikes' noise, which disturbs birds and fish, officials argued that the crafts kick up sediment and scar seagrass beds with their propellers.

Cynthia Guerra, director of the Tropical Audubon Society, argued that the bikes detract from visitors' experiences in the park.

The noise, she said, can directly affect bird nesting.

''The birds may leave their nests because of the noise,'' Guerra said. ``And they may never come back.''

But Danny Dinicola, a Coconut Grove real estate agent and personal watercraft owner, says he looks forward to again roaming Biscayne Bay on his water bike.

The ban, he said, took him by surprise.

''It was just like that,'' said Dinicola, 23. "No one said nothing about it. One day we were just not allowed to use the park anymore.''