N E W S
| April 27, 2005 |
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| WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is urging the U.S. National Park Service to expedite the final publication of the rules that allow personal watercraft back on Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area after a more than two-year ban. “Recreationists and businesses have waited over two years for a final rule lifting the ban on personal watercraft,” Rehberg said in a letter to Fran Mainella, Director of the National Park Service. “Delaying publication until the fall would add another year onto the ban, placing an even greater and unnecessary burden on resource users and the local economy.” Litigation in 2002 prompted the closure of all National Park Service (NPS) waters to personal watercrafts, pending environmental assessments. Since then, the NPS has conducted an environmental assessment for Bighorn Lake, and recommended a preferred alternative that reinstated the use of the watercrafts under certain restrictions and management guidelines. The public comment period concluded last summer and the final approval and publication of the rule now rests with the National Park Service, which Bighorn Canyon officials say may not be completed until the fall of this year. “The work’s been done on this issue, and I’m encouraging the National Park Service to make this rule making process a top priority so the public can utilize this resource this recreation season,” said Rehberg, a Billings native, and member of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and is a popular fishing and recreation destination in southeast Montana.
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Letter Below
April 25, 2005 Fran Mainella Director National Park Service 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Dear Ms. Mainella: Since November of 2002, personal watercraft use on Bighorn Lake in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area of southern Montana and northern Wyoming has been banned, detrimentally affecting recreationists and area businesses. National Park Service managers recently completed a final rules package that would open Bighorn Lake to limited watercraft use upon final publication in the Federal Register (36 CFR Part 7). I respectfully request your agency’s prompt approval of this regulation so that personal watercraft use can begin on Bighorn Lake this year. Managers at Bighorn Canyon N.R.A. estimate that final publication of this rule may not be completed until fall of this year, while it awaits final approval by your agency. Recreationists and businesses have waited over two years for a final rule lifting the ban on personal watercraft. Delaying publication until the fall would add another year onto the ban, placing an even greater and unnecessary burden on resource users and the local economy. By following the public participation requirements set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act and evaluating the area’s overall management objectives, the managers at Bighorn Canyon N.R.A. have deemed personal watercraft recreation to be an appropriate use of the Bighorn Lake resource. They have developed a rule that appropriately balances the needs of all users of the resource, while limiting or restricting watercraft use to protect public safety and environmentally or culturally sensitive areas. I urge you to make the final approval and publication of this rule a top priority, so that citizens will be able to utilize their resource this season. Sincerely Denny Rehberg Montana’s Congressman DRR: df
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