I read a couple of articles on it.  As I understand it, wade access on the river would not be restricted.  aPedestrian/ wade access to the riverbank would be channelled to fewer entrances and OHV eccess would be denied completely.  Drift boat launches would be charged for and limited to one access.  The people this will really affect are the guides and to a lesser extend private drifters.  They are talking about limiting access to a predetermined number of boats per day.

It's probably an improvement for wade fishers, but a pain in the neck and another regulatory step for guides whose plans need flexibility.

I would guess  all guide boats will have to get a permit just like the trinity...Permits will be some what limitted.   Survey crews have been out all week.I never got a chance to talk to any of them...

brian clemens wrote:

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thats what i read on kienes. now here is my question. u dont have a drift boat, but a pontoon. would that be in the same category as a drift boat. hope not.

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It sounds to me like a pontoon boat and a drift boat would be treated the same unless you found a loop hole.  You may be able to get away with your boat, because you can launch your pontoon boat anywhere you can walk in.  Your boat is unique, though, because it doesn't weigh anything.  Even if it was too heavy, you could drag it.    

 

Their plan is to fence off the river access for 3 miles.  The only access to the river would be through turnstyle type entrance points for these 3 miles.  It seems that the ability to get a pontoonto the river would deoend on how high the fence is and what type of turnstyle they install.  The fence is conceptually proposed as a cable type fence.  The initial public rollout of their conceptual plan will be early 2010.

It's my understanding that a permit requirementon the water for boats would be a regulations change.  Any regulations change would have to be passed by the Fish and Game Commission.  If that's the case, none has been submitted to the COmmission as of yet.  My guess is that the property owner of Yuba Outdoor Adventures, who would have sole river access for boat launching in that area, might sell access permits to his boat launching facility and regulate how many boats are launched from his facility every day. 

It sounds like this thing is a ways off yet.  The project has been seeded with $200k of money and needs a hell of alot more than that to fly.  The Executive Director of the South Yuba River Citizen's League is quoted as saying that this project will NOT restrict access to the river on any public lands, but this project is on private lands.  There is a good article  out there on this project that lays out their plan.  The article is on the South Yuba River Citizens League website, www.yubariver.org



-- Edited by ONEWEIGHT on Sunday 15th of November 2009 08:15:49 AM