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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend January 4, 2007 State puts custom boats up for sale A bid of at least $20K could land you a 24-foot aluminum pontoon boat on Internet By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune You can't get yourself one of those chic "Apply 'Til They Die" t-shirts worn by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife employees who poisoned Diamond Lake's tui chub last September. But you can get one of the aluminum pontoon boats used to apply the chemical rotenone at the lake, provided you have at least $20,000 and an Internet connection. The state of Oregon is selling seven of the custom boats used on Diamond Lake, offering the 24-foot boats and engines for sale on e-bay at a minimum $20,000 bid. The first boat sold Wednesday to the Diamond Lake Resort for the minimum bid. Rick Rockholt, Diamond Lake Resort's marketing manager, says the resort will use the boat for guided fishing trips and scenic tours. Advertisement "We'll put bench seats and a canopy on it," Rockholt says. "Good grief, that thing can sit 12 people. "But the biggest thing is that we got a piece of history," Rockholt says. The money will go toward future fish stocking and water-quality monitoring at the eastern Douglas County lake. "We'll sell one a week until they are gone," says Mari Brick, a biologist on the Diamond Lake Restoration Project. The ODFW ordered the custom boats last summer from Hydrotech Manufacturing of Medford specifically to apply heavy loads of rotenone to kill an estimated 94 million chub that infested the lake. The boats are 24 feet long, 10 feet wide and come with a 90 horsepower Mercury outboard and dual-axle trailer. They have a maximum capacity of 20 people and a maximum speed of 24 mph. The agency paid about $23,000 apiece for the boats, motors and trailers. The actual boats cost $10,900 apiece while the trailers were purchased for $5,790 apiece and the motors cost the agency $6,786, Brick says. The first boat went on the online auction block Dec. 27 and garnered 24 bids and almost 5,400 viewings before the auction ended at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Brick says. The state Department of Administrative Services routinely uses e-bay as an alternative to traditional auctions to rid itself of surplus state-owned items. You can view the boats and other materials under the Oregon Surplus Property Store at e-bay, Brick says. One of the excess boats is at Cole Rivers Hatchery. To schedule a viewing, telephone Dave Loomis, the ODFW's Umpqua Watershed Manager, at 541-440-3353. u The ODFW originally ordered nine of the rotenone boats for Diamond Lake, but two of the boats will remain in biologists' hands for work in Southern Oregon. One of the boats will remain at the ODFW's Roseburg office for use on ongoing ODFW work at Diamond Lake while the ninth will be retrofitted as a fish-stocking boat working out of the ODFW's Central Point office. The boat replaces a 50-year-old wooden "scattering" boat that agency biologists use annually to stock fingerling trout in Hyatt and Howard Prairie lakes in Jackson County as well as Crane Prairie reservoir in central Oregon, ODFW biologist David Haight says. Scattering is the process of placing fingerling trout throughout the lake instead of just spilling the fish at a boat ramp. The technique helps ease fish into the habitat, curb predation from birds and improves initial survival rates. "The old boat is getting rotten and it isn't very functional anymore," Haight says. "This will be more stable and safer and it will be designed to handle an entire load from a fish truck." The boat will be bought for $20,000 through state Restoration and Enhancement Program money. The R&E Board approved the purchase, which was scheduled to be finalized by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission during its Jan. 11-12 meeting in Salem. Haight says the boat will be modified so equipment used in the fish-stocking process can be removed so the boat can function for other purposes. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] . Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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