Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
Posted by Bill Wainwright on 02/28/08
Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association (CSPA) along with the Montana SPA, SPA, AOPA and many others commented on the proposed BLM’s Upper Missouri River Breaks Resource Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement that was been in process thru 2006 and 2007. The final draft came out at the end of January and we are now in the additional comment period for appeals of the document. The BLM final plan prohibits seaplanes from using 146 miles of the river, but allows other power vessels, even though the BLM admits they’ve still never seen a seaplane there and don’t know that there is really any problem. It appears they have denied our access and they wanted to show environmentalists involved that they were being hard on aircraft somewhere in the plan (the BLM allowed several grass strips to remain and this has angered some of the environmental groups).
Two web sites to look at are, first the BLM site of the final report:
http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/lewistown_field_office/um_rmp_process/rmp.html
And second, the Friends of the Missouri Breaks web site showing what they are encouraging their members to object to, like the airstrips and use of the river by power boats:
http://www.missouribreaks.org/
The BLM's final plan says that seaplanes can use the river in an “emergency”, which is something. But the issue is that as a navigable river and a pathway for interstate commerce, the seaplane use should simply be allowed outright. If it remains “emergency” use only, then:
1) the pilot is required to get into an emergency before using the river – rather than using the river before declaring an emergency as precautionary or just good judgment; the history of aviation accidents tells us this will predictably lead to serious accidents; and
2) there is the inevitable problem of what the definition of an “emergency” is, and park rangers are likely to give out a ticket anyway to be safe on their side, which would then require the pilot to return to a court in Montana to defend themselves – guilty until proven innocent.
CSPA led in the number of individual commenter’s (See vol. II BLM site above) and also sent 2 delegates to Helena, MT to appear publicly in support of not restricting seaplanes on the River. Of the many possible choices, in the end the BLM selected Alternate F which eliminated seaplane use of the river from mile 3 to 149. Aron Faegre, President, Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association is preparing the CSPA appeal which is required to be filed by March 4th, so there is not much time. To bolster the strength of the CSPA appeal we have prepared a letter, to accompany the appeal, containing the signatures of as many people as we can gather to show the BLM how important this issue is not only to Montana but to the all the US floatplane pilots that might use this East-West flyway. See the attached items. You only need to return the signed signature page 2 by email, Fax or snail mail if you think it will get to Portland, Oregon by Monday. You may need to reformat the attachments to get them to print out full size, but we will take them any way you can provide them back to us. Send Signatures to:
Bill Wainwright
CSPA Vice President
SPA Field Director OR/ID
6120 SW Huber St.
Portland, OR 97219
503-293-7627
Fax 503-246-3927
Email: btwainwright@comcast.net
See also the ADVOCACY tab on this website for additional background information on this issue. The comments that CSPA submitted in 2006 appear as well.
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Re: Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
Posted by Bill Wainwright on 02/29/08
Please note that the fax number on the attachment above is wrong. The correct number is 503-246-3927.
Posted by Bill Wainwright on 02/28/08
Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association (CSPA) along with the Montana SPA, SPA, AOPA and many others commented on the proposed BLM’s Upper Missouri River Breaks Resource Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement that was been in process thru 2006 and 2007. The final draft came out at the end of January and we are now in the additional comment period for appeals of the document. The BLM final plan prohibits seaplanes from using 146 miles of the river, but allows other power vessels, even though the BLM admits they’ve still never seen a seaplane there and don’t know that there is really any problem. It appears they have denied our access and they wanted to show environmentalists involved that they were being hard on aircraft somewhere in the plan (the BLM allowed several grass strips to remain and this has angered some of the environmental groups).
Two web sites to look at are, first the BLM site of the final report:
http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/lewistown_field_office/um_rmp_process/rmp.html
And second, the Friends of the Missouri Breaks web site showing what they are encouraging their members to object to, like the airstrips and use of the river by power boats:
http://www.missouribreaks.org/
The BLM's final plan says that seaplanes can use the river in an “emergency”, which is something. But the issue is that as a navigable river and a pathway for interstate commerce, the seaplane use should simply be allowed outright. If it remains “emergency” use only, then:
1) the pilot is required to get into an emergency before using the river – rather than using the river before declaring an emergency as precautionary or just good judgment; the history of aviation accidents tells us this will predictably lead to serious accidents; and
2) there is the inevitable problem of what the definition of an “emergency” is, and park rangers are likely to give out a ticket anyway to be safe on their side, which would then require the pilot to return to a court in Montana to defend themselves – guilty until proven innocent.
CSPA led in the number of individual commenter’s (See vol. II BLM site above) and also sent 2 delegates to Helena, MT to appear publicly in support of not restricting seaplanes on the River. Of the many possible choices, in the end the BLM selected Alternate F which eliminated seaplane use of the river from mile 3 to 149. Aron Faegre, President, Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association is preparing the CSPA appeal which is required to be filed by March 4th, so there is not much time. To bolster the strength of the CSPA appeal we have prepared a letter, to accompany the appeal, containing the signatures of as many people as we can gather to show the BLM how important this issue is not only to Montana but to the all the US floatplane pilots that might use this East-West flyway. See the attached items. You only need to return the signed signature page 2 by email, Fax or snail mail if you think it will get to Portland, Oregon by Monday. You may need to reformat the attachments to get them to print out full size, but we will take them any way you can provide them back to us. Send Signatures to:
Bill Wainwright
CSPA Vice President
SPA Field Director OR/ID
6120 SW Huber St.
Portland, OR 97219
503-293-7627
Fax 503-246-3927
Email: btwainwright@comcast.net
See also the ADVOCACY tab on this website for additional background information on this issue. The comments that CSPA submitted in 2006 appear as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
Posted by Bill Wainwright on 02/29/08
Please note that the fax number on the attachment above is wrong. The correct number is 503-246-3927.
