TouVelle State Park considering long term relationship with commercial jet boats
TouVelle State Park is located on the Rogue River north of Central Point, and it is one of the most accessible state parks in the Rogue Valley. Touvelle State Park provides multiple recreation opportunities like swimming, fishing, and boating. However, for the past three years, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has issued special use permits to Rogue Jet Boat Adventures allowing the commercial jet boat business to advertise, sell tickets, and operate their business out of the park. As a multi-use area, it is important that the management of TouVelle Park reflects the needs of all the users of the park and protects the environment and the iconic salmon and steelhead of our region, not just the economic interests of a single company. Allowing a commercial jet boat business to operate out of a public park is not the way to protect critical salmon habitat or serve the different user groups which are impacted by the high speeds and frequent trips of this type of commercial operation.
While any private jet boat can operate on this section of the Rogue River, a commercial operation requires state park permission to conduct business from TouVelle State Park. Rogue Riverkeeper wants to make sure that the public uses this opportunity to participate in management decisions for public lands and waterways. Allowing a commercial jet boat company to operate out of a public park adversely impacts the community in several ways.
Join Rogue Riverkeeper in asking the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to not allow commercial jet boats to operate out of TouVelle State Park in Central Point, OR.
How do commercial jet boats on the upper Rogue River affect the riparian area adjacent to the river?
Commercial jet boat tours running multiple trips per day at high speeds create noise and wakes that contribute to soil erosion, dislodged aquatic vegetation, increased turbidity, riverbank loss, and disturbance of wildlife.
How do commercial jet boat operations affect fishing?
Because of the noise, hazards due to high boat speeds and wakes, and dislodged vegetation created by commercial jet boats making numerous trips, fishing is more difficult due to increased turbidity, disturbance to fish and wildlife and keeping lines free from weeds.
How do commercial jet boat operations affect the general public’s use of the river?
Jet boat tours adversely affect the general public’s use of the river because they are incompatible with other common river uses such as non-powered boats, fishing, hiking, and wildlife observation because of the danger from the speed of large tour boats in the narrower channel and short sight lines in the area, wakes, noise, turbidity, dislodging of weeds, and disturbance of fish and wildlife.
How do commercial jet boat operations affect fish and wildlife?
Commercial jet boat operations in the Upper Rogue are significantly more harmful to the environment and fish and wildlife because the large jet boats are big compared to the river width and depth and the jet boat wakes contribute to soil erosion and tree loss, degrading riparian habitat. The jet boats disturb fish in their holding areas and eagles, ospreys, herons and other birds along the river and the adjacent Denman Wildlife Refuge. The Rogue River is federally protected critical habitat for Fall and Spring Chinook salmon, and a future contract with Rogue Jet Boat Adventures could lead to degradation of the riverbed and its critical salmon habitat.