The truth? A river races through it

I testified against the St. Maries jet boat races coming into Shoshone County waters, and have been tracking the story closely since then. And at this point, the press is telling a great story - based on total falsehoods.

We have to go back to the boring (but true) beginning. First fact - marine events in Idaho submit a one page permit application, with one fairly simple page of instructions. Number 10 in the instructions states that environmental assessments may be required for events which are likely to involve:

1. Significant cumulative impacts on the environment - the clock's already started ticking on this one, with all the scout boats already bombing up and down the river

2. Substantial controversy because of the effects on the human environment - anybody miss the controversy? Got that one covered.

3. Any activity proposed in a designated or recommended "critical" habitat of an endangered species - the St. Joe River is designated as Critical Habitat for bull trout, a "threatened" species, so we've got that one, and

4. Impacts that are more than minimal on or adjacent to a public park recreation area, wildlife or waterfowl refuge or historic site - we've got a wildlife refuge with lots of river bank full of nesting waterfowl, so we've got that one too - that's four out of four.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to notify the Coast Guard of possible environmental impacts described above. Failure to do so may delay processing the permit or cause the revocation of an issued permit.

I put that in bold because that's how it appears on the application; in fact it's the only thing in bold. So yes, they did need a permit, and they probably needed one last year too, whether anybody complained or not.

The Shoshone County hearing in Calder was not until March 28, and at that time Mr. Boyd asked about the group's Coast Guard permit, and got dirty looks for his answer. When Boyd asked the representative of the big racing association, he said that yes, the racing association did get Coast Guard permits for other rivers in Idaho on the racing circuit. This is standard procedure.

The St. Maries group filed an amended permit application with Shoshone County on April 3, and the Coast Guard was processing their application by mid-April.

So where does the shock and surprise come from two weeks before the race, when the group received its phone call? They were expecting a letter, maybe?

The St. Maries group found out they were in trouble at the end of March, not the beginning of May. Whether they just didn't read the instructions, or knew so little about our river that they thought none of the above applied to them, or ignored the instructions so they could pick a date that suited them is a moot point, but Jim Boyd did not cause their problem - they did. Boyd just asked them to follow the law. This was our first, last and only chance to be heard - March 28 - and we certainly didn't ask that the hearing be so late in the process.

As to the eagles - they wouldn't have been a problem if St. Maries had operated above board. They could have gotten a "take" permit from U.S. Fish and Wildlife and "accidently" disturbed the eagles all they wanted. As it is, with cumulative impact as a point of problem, they could run off an eagle while scouting before the race and the group would be liable for a $200,000 fine for not having their "take" permit.

The Boyds are worried about all the life on the river, as I am, and right now those boats may do the most harm to the geese and ducks nesting along the banks. The race folks probably filled a nice slot in the racing circuit, but the date doesn't fit with real life on the river.

The St. Maries folks spun the story - "We're stunned and oh so unfairly treated," "Boyd did it," and "eagles, eagles, eagles," the press bought it, nobody checked the facts, they reported on each other's reports. And now that's the story, and it's a big fat lie.

I have documentation for everything I've written.

Liz Codoni is a Calder resident.