Smooth waters for hydroplanes

COEUR d'ALENE - The Lake Coeur d'Alene Anglers Association and Diamond Cup hydroplane race organizers have made up.

The anglers will no longer participate in any legal action against the Idaho Department of Lands if the agency issues permits for use of Lake Coeur d'Alene for boat races this summer.

Roger Blackstone, chairman of the association's board of directors, said he notified the group's Coeur d'Alene attorney Scott Reed of the reversal after a meeting with Diamond Cup organizers.

In a November 2013 letter to the department, Reed first noted opposition to a permit for hydroplane races this summer. At the time, Reed stated he represented both the anglers and the conservation group Kootenai Environmental Alliance.

Earlier this month, Reed said his clients intended to file an injunction to stop the races if a permit was issued to use Lake Coeur d'Alene's waters. Reed cited issues that the anglers had with buoy anchors and ropes.

On Friday, Blackstone met with Diamond Cup president Doug Miller and committee member Keith Kroetch to discuss the issues between the two sides.

The outgrowth of that meeting was a decision by the anglers association to withdraw their objections and an official announcement that they were willing to work with Miller and Kroetch's group in engineering an acceptable system to anchor the buoys for the race so fishing in the Silver Beach area is not disrupted.

"Our group's main concern was with the buoy anchor system used for the races this past year," Blackstone said Monday. "After Doug told me during the meeting of the intention of the race committee to install a better system - currently being designed by local engineers - I felt that our concerns were put to rest and that we needed to put the 2013 problems behind us and to work together on planning for the 2014 race."

The meeting also brought about an agreement in which Blackstone will join the advisory committee for the Diamond Cup as liaison for the anglers association. That will give the anglers a voice in planning for future races and keep them informed.

"We are striving to have the community involved as much as possible in putting on the race," Kroetch said Monday. "It is our team's goal to have a successful race this year and in the future, and it's a great step forward to have the (anglers association) on board as part of that team."

Miller said he regretted it took so long for the two groups to sit down together.

"It is the goal of the Diamond Cup to be good stewards of the community and the lake," Miller said.

He said he was pleased Blackstone accepted an invitation to join the advisory board.