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Say no to ROW

by John Mark Kramer
| March 18, 2010 9:00 PM

This is an open letter to the city council, mayor and all citizens. The ROW Adventures tour company is back again. On Tuesday, March 16, at the regular meting of the city council, they were seeking to gain council approval to launch multiple kayak tours from Independence Point, around Tubbs Hill and beyond.

We should remember that last year this same company sought to lead crowds of paying customers out onto the narrow trails of Tubbs Hill to "share" the scenic beauty of that spot while, of course, enriching themselves.

Last year area citizens appealed to the mayor and council to prevent this crass commercial act of environmental exploitation. By their own admission, two council members were swayed by the logic and passion of the vocal public that very night, and voted to reject that first step to commercialize the use of Tubbs Hill and vicinity for private, for-profit entrepreneurs.

Now please understand that I am glad to share the world-renowned beauty of our town with everyone. Also I admire smart, hardworking business people. However, sometimes their egos and ambitions clash with the best interests of the general public. Such is the case with the proposed mass kayak tours on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

We all know that the public beaches which exist primarily on Tubbs Hill and vicinity are an unspoiled treasure we should preserve. When we travel around Tubbs Hill by foot we soon notice that relative to the enormous size of Lake Coeur d'Alene, there is very limited accessible beach space for use by swimmers, waders and beach loungers.

This is where the real problem arises.

While powerboats, sailboats, and kayakers have the entire expanse of the lake to pursue their fun, we swimmers and waders and beach loungers are limited to a precious few narrow strips of lakefront. The boaters can join us on the beach by anchoring their craft 100 feet offshore in accordance with public regulations and courteous common sense.

Such is not the case for the proposed flotillas of incoming kayaks. These craft cannot be easily anchored offshore so they end up onshore, hogging up the scarce beach space and using it as a congested parking lot in complete disregard for other beach users.

Kayakers and swimmers are not compatible in a common, confined area, much as commercial parking lots are unsuitable as playgrounds for young children. While swimming last summer off of the cove beach at south Tubbs Hill, I was struck by a clumsy or malicious kayaker's oar as she tried to pass me and park her vessel on the shore. Imagine if this rower had been accompanied by 20 additional kayakers! Swimmer versus vessel is the equivalent of pedestrian versus automobile. There is a safety concern with potential liability consequences for the city.

However, there is an even bigger issue at stake here. First and foremost the mayor and council should be primarily concerned with preservation of Tubbs Hill and its few surrounding beaches. The mayor and council should never sanction for-profit enterprises to exploit or disrupt public resources.

These tour profiteers are insidious and they and their kind will always demand to have their own selfish way at the expense of the rest of us. Our city officials must stand up and stop this ruse, now and forever.

Don't commercialize what's left of our precious lake shoreline.

John Mark Kramer is a Coeur d'Alene resident.