Organizers withdraw plans to race boats on Willamette

Willamette to be free of jet boats on Memorial Day weekend.

A jet boat race attracting participants from as far away as New Zealand won’t take place on the Willamette River between Albany and Eugene as planners had hoped.

The 2008 Trex World Jet Boat Championships scheduled for several locations in Southern Oregon and California will still be held from May 18 to May 26.

But legs of the race planned for May 25 from Albany to Eugene and May 26 from Albany to Lebanon on the Willamette and Santiam rivers, respectively, have been scrapped, said race organizer Gary Weaver of the Southern Oregon Power Boat Association.

Weaver, an Albany resident, said the Willamette and Santiam river portions of the race will be moved to some other place, but the final location has not yet been decided.

Race organizers wanted to close the river to other users during the two-day event, which was scheduled for Memorial Day weekend. They needed permission from the Oregon State Marine Board in order to hold the event and to exclude other users.

The marine board receives about 100 applications each year for a variety of boating events, including fishing tournaments, regattas and rowing races, said Randy Henry, an operations policy analyst with the Marine Board.

Weaver said the process of getting a permit proved too difficult.

“We just ran out of time,” he said.

Getting a permit would have required that each local, state and federal agency with jurisdiction along the river sign off on the event.

Jet boat races have been a regular feature on the Rogue River and have been held in previous years on a stretch of the Willamette from Harrisburg to Albany, but this was the first time racers would have brought their boats all the way to Eugene.

The marine board invited public comment on the race and as of March 31 had received about 1,000 comments, said Ashley Massey, a spokeswoman for the agency that oversees boater regulations and safety for Oregon waterways.

She said the comments hadn’t been tabulated, but board staff members estimated that they were roughly split between those supporting and those opposing the event.

Local and state agencies were among those who submitted comments, and several raised questions about the impact of the race.

In a March 21 letter, Oregon Parks and Recreation officials pointed out that the sections of the rivers include 35 public access points with day-use, overnight camping and public boat ramps.

“Many residents and visitors have confirmed campground and hotel reservations, made plans for boating and camping excursions and have no idea that rivers may be closed to on-water activities,” wrote Kyleen Stone, assistant director of recreation programs and planning.

She recommended that the race be shifted to midweek to avoid conflicts with other vacationers.

The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife said little research had been done on the impact of the race on local fish and wildlife.

But the agency raised concerns about great blue heron chicks that will be 4 to 7 weeks old in the heron rookeries along the river at the time of the race.

The agency suggested that organizers pay to monitor the nests during the race to discover whether the noise of the boats caused the birds or their chicks problems.

The planned race also coincided with a time when juvenile spring chinook are staging in the area for migration, and when anglers are on the river fishing for hatchery spring chinook, summer steelhead and rainbow trout.

“Clearly the proposed activity will compromise, perhaps significantly, the public’s use and enjoyment of the fish and wildlife resources that reside in the affected reaches of the Willamette and Santiam rivers,” wrote watershed manager Steven Marx.

Eugene Parks and Open Space Director Johnny Medlin also raised environmental and recreational user concerns about the race in a March 31 e-mail to the marine board.

Weaver said he was disappointed not to be able to stage the race on the Willamette and that the communities here would not be reaping the financial benefits of tourism dollars that would have been spent.

The race typically draws boaters from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico, he said.

Last year’s race in Canada attracted 58 racers and the New Zealand participants had a crowd of about 100 fellow travelers who came to watch, Weaver said. “It’s an economic loss for the valley,” he said.

Weaver said he was gratified by the interest in the race expressed by Eugene businesses such as the Valley River Inn, Valley River Center and the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon.

“If I was going to put on another event, I’d definitely put it on in Eugene. They were wonderful,” he said.