The Oregon Marine Board has decided to keep in place a ban on motorboats in Waldo Lake in the Central Cascades.
credit:
Oregon Department of Transportation
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — An Oregon state agency has decided to keep gasoline-powered motorboats off Waldo Lake, one of the state’s largest, deepest bodies of water.
The Bend Bulletin reports the Oregon Marine Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to uphold the ban it imposed in 2009.
Motorboat owners say a state law allows boats doing less than 10 mph to use the lake. They plan to resume a legal challenge in the state Court of Appeals.
Supporters of the ban argue it’s necessary to protect the Cascade Range lake’s clear water and tranquil setting.
Public comment was heavily in favor of it. Gov. John Kitzhaber sent the board a letter in support.
The marine board voted 4-1 to allow seaplanes, saying it would let another agency, the Oregon Aviation Board, regulate plane use.
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