PWCs Banned from Most of
Park System
The watercraft is now allowed at 16 parks, pending further study.
In a partial victory for park advocates craving peaceful waterways, personal watercraft (PWC) have been permanently banned from all but 16 national park units. The 16 park units are conducting environmental assessments to determine how to manage PWC use. Critics of PWCs consider the machines excessively loud and polluting.
The following timeline highlights key developments in the PWC debate:
- May 1998: NPCA petitions the National Park Service (NPS) for an immediate ban on PWCs, which had been used in 87 park units.
- March 2000: The Park Service bans PWCs in 66 of the 87 parks but gives 21 seashores, lakeshores, and recreation areas two years to establish regulations for PWC use; any unit that wants to allow PWC use after the grace period must complete environmental assessments and make special rules.
- March 2002: House Republicans introduce legislation to extend the grace period for the 21 units until the end of 2004, allowing for further study.
- April 2002: A federal court rejects the PWC industry's challenge to the Park Service bans.
- April 2002: On April 22, the Park Service announces permanent PWC bans for five of the 21 parks: Cape Cod and Cumberland Island national seashores, Delaware Water Gap and Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity national recreation areas, and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
PWCs are banned at eight other parks effective April 22, pending further study: Gulf Islands, Assateague Island, Fire Island, Cape Lookout, and Padre Island national seashores, Big Thicket National Preserve, Gateway National Recreation Area, and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
The remaining eight parks will ban PWCs on September 15, pending further study: Amistad, Bighorn Canyon, Lake Mead, Chickasaw, Curecanti, Glen Canyon, Lake Meredith, and Lake Roosevelt national recreation areas.
