I have been designing, building and testing all-welded aluminum boats for 40 years. It’s my life’s work. My love of the outdoors motivated me to dedicate my life to helping others explore it. I’ve navigated six uncharted river systems in the Himalayas, run rivers in Patagonia, and now train others to do the same.
My company headquarters is in White City. Oregon’s waterways easily rival those I’ve seen around the world and provide an incredible backdrop to test the boats we build that serve thousands of customers each year.
Unfortunately, every year Oregon becomes less friendly to boaters and businesses like mine with over regulation of our lakes and rivers. There is another ordinance now before the Oregon State Maritime Board called the “narrative standard.”
The subjectivity of this citizen petition is excessive, especially for small business owners like myself who depend on access to local waterways to stay afloat and employ 20 people. If the rule is passed, I could get a citation if the police think a boat I’m testing is making too much noise, even if it’s within the legal decibel limit. The same would be true of the local jet boat operators who bring valuable tourism to our area. Running a business under this uncertainty is unacceptable.
Narrative standards also place an added and unnecessary burden on our law enforcement officers, forcing them to spend valuable time and resources responding to noise complaints based solely on the opinions of individual citizens.
Speaking of law enforcement, in addition to the boats we manufacture for the general public, more than half of our production is for government and law enforcement agencies. These ships will also be affected by this.
This citizen petition came about because of a Portland water skier who was being disrespectful and inconsiderate on a small stretch of the Willamette River. The Portland waterfront homeowners behind this petition fail to understand the diverse nature of Oregon’s waterways and that what might not be appropriate on a busy Saturday afternoon on the Willamette is perfectly acceptable on the waterways remote navigables of Oregon.
We need to think about all users and all impacts and consider the unintended consequences of this regulation. The growing over-regulation of Oregon’s waterways poses a real threat to local businesses like mine. In Oregon alone, recreational boating provides $1.6 billion in annual economic impact and supports 5,993 jobs and 419 small businesses.
There are many fair and established rules to help keep us and our lakes and rivers safe. We must focus on compliance with current regulations. If we’re not careful, boaters could find themselves without a waterway to return home to.
On behalf of myself as a boat owner, my boat manufacturing business and my boat customers, I am asking the Maritime Board to vote against the “narrative standard” at their meeting today.
Bruce Wassom is the owner and president of Rogue Jet Boatworks.
