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OUTDOOR RECREATION Boat managers recommend no motor ban on Chetco River Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Jun. 28, 2016 at 11:21 AM Updated Jun 28, 2016 at 1:59 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Jun. 28, 2016 at 11:21 AM Updated Jun 28, 2016 at 1:59 PM » Social News State boating managers have recommended against banning motors on a 10-mile stretch of the Chetco River, calling it an "over-reaching measure" to settle conflicts between boat and bank anglers during the river's winter steelhead season. A staff report recommends that the Oregon State Marine Board reject the motor ban petition on driftboats because there is no justification for a motor ban based on safety, congestion or property-rights concerns. Some bank anglers petitioned the Marine Board for the ban to keep driftboats using small outboard motors for repeatedly motoring through holes on a popular stretch of the river during the winter steelhead season. Opponents said motor bans exist throughout the remaining 46 miles of the Chetco, and the staff recommendation agrees with opponents who say the ban would be an improper solution to a clash in angling styles. "The proposed prohibition may be an overreaching measure in response to what appears to be a three-month fishing style conflict," the report states. "The river is more crowded than in the past, and the conditions that the petitioners seek — a quiet, peaceful, uncrowded experience — is not realistic as long as the fishing on the river is productive and promoted." The Marine Board was originally slated to vote during today's meeting in The Dalles on whether to deny the petition or draft a rule based on the petition and send it out for public comment. However, the five-member board lacked a quorum for this particular issue because two board members were absent and a third — Brookings-based fishing guide and board Chair Val Early — recused herself from voting on this issue over a potential conflict of interest, Marine Board spokeswoman Ashley Massey says. The issue was rescheduled for the board's Oct. 26 meeting, which will be held in either Newport or Lincoln City, Massey says. The staff petition also noted an opinion by an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist that motors on driftboats pose no biological threat to wild steelhead during the December through March fishery. Brookings guide Andy Martin says that opinion, plus the Marine Board's past dealings with social boating clashes elsewhere, left him unsurprised at the staff conclusions. "The Marine Board is pretty reluctant to add more rules, especially when it's a rule favoring one user group over another," says Martin, who uses an outboard on his driftboat. One of the petitioners, Paul LeFebvre of Brookings, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. The petition sought to ban motors from the Forest Service boundary near a popular hole called Ice Box down to river mile 3.2, which is just downstream from a popular bank-fishing spot called Social Security Hole. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Follow @@MTwriterFreeman Posted Jun. 28, 2016 at 11:21 AM Updated Jun 28, 2016 at 1:59 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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