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Author Topic:   Apostle Island Wilderness Designation!

jimh posted 01-08-2002 01:50 AM ET (US)
Having twice enjoyed visiting the Apostle Islands in a motorized boat, I would be very upset to see access to them limited to kayak-only. Let the government know how you would like it to govern! See:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~rlou/apis-study/ for more information.
Everyone should send in a comment on this!
gunnelgrabber posted 01-08-2002 09:54 AM ET (US)
sounds like a bad idea....jimh, when you were there ,were you in your own motor boat or in one of "theirs"?..i.e. ferry or tourboat? i want to go there soon myself.thanks..lm
sorcerer posted 01-08-2002 11:25 AM ET (US)
Does the APIS area have a tremendous amount of large sail and power boating in and around the island grouping?

Also, are there already restrictions in place concerning speed, wakes, anchorage areas, etc.?
This appears it maybe just an alarmist element conjuring up "what ifs".
I can't see it compared to the Boundary Waters situation, where in general any large concentration of power craft could be in my opinion detrimental for obvious reasons, one of which would be destroying the "wilderness" experience
lhg posted 01-08-2002 03:44 PM ET (US)
I have boated all around the Apostle Islands, literally every island, in my 25 Outrage, and even if enacted, I can't see this would be a major problem. There are some dockage areas which boats can use for occupants to go ashore, and seems unlikely that those would be closed. All sailboaters have dingys, so it would be easy for them to row ashore anyway. Maybe this is aimed at the PWC crowd, buzzing around the shorelines and beaches? If so, fine by me. I remember not finding a lot to do at the Apostles from a powerboater's perspective. Nice scenery to see from water, but not many places to actually enjoy them, since I'm not one to beach my Whaler. And the water's too cold to swim ashore.
My problem was that that I launched in the Apostles after having spent 3 days at Isle Royale National Park! Now that's Lake Superior boating and recreation at it's finest. The Apostles were dull in comparison.
galaxygirl posted 01-12-2002 07:08 PM ET (US)
This is fear mongering. I have sailed and boated in the islands for nearly twenty years and even though kayakers are a growing user group they are not even close to matching sailboating, power cruising, fishing both commercial and recreational and other power boat tourism in terms of monetary strength. What's more, there is actually a commercial shipping lane through the islands. As for cruising in the islands, it's too bad you didn't beach on some of the islands. My friends have a 28' center console Whaler (Outrage?) and we had a blast cruising up to some beautiful beaches and barbecuing. Fun, fun. Almost enough to make me sell my sailboat there. (I only have a 13 footer...)
jimh posted 01-13-2002 01:21 AM ET (US)
I would not call it fear mongering. Look at the situation with Isle Royal, now designated a wilderness area.
One problem I have with the wilderness designation is that it seems to have been used in the past to the detriment of recreational boating (except for kayak).
David Pendleton posted 01-13-2002 02:54 PM ET (US)
I have to say, I cannot fathom why this is even being considered.
I'm not aware of any 'damage' being done to the park. A large(r) part of the local economy is based on recreational boating. Primarily sailboats.
I been there a half-dozen times I can't recall ever seeing a boat beached on an island. In fact, the island that seemed to attract the most activity was Devil's Island, the most 'developed' of the park's islands.
I don't see this happening, but I'm troubled that it's even being considered.

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Author	Topic: Apostle Island Wilderness Designation!
jimh	posted 01-08-2002 01:50 AM ET (US) Having twice enjoyed visiting the Apostle Islands in a motorized boat, I would be very upset to see access to them limited to kayak-only. Let the government know how you would like it to govern! See: http://www.users.qwest.net/~rlou/apis-study/ for more information. Everyone should send in a comment on this!
gunnelgrabber	posted 01-08-2002 09:54 AM ET (US) sounds like a bad idea....jimh, when you were there ,were you in your own motor boat or in one of "theirs"?..i.e. ferry or tourboat? i want to go there soon myself.thanks..lm
sorcerer	posted 01-08-2002 11:25 AM ET (US) Does the APIS area have a tremendous amount of large sail and power boating in and around the island grouping? Also, are there already restrictions in place concerning speed, wakes, anchorage areas, etc.? This appears it maybe just an alarmist element conjuring up "what ifs". I can't see it compared to the Boundary Waters situation, where in general any large concentration of power craft could be in my opinion detrimental for obvious reasons, one of which would be destroying the "wilderness" experience
lhg	posted 01-08-2002 03:44 PM ET (US) I have boated all around the Apostle Islands, literally every island, in my 25 Outrage, and even if enacted, I can't see this would be a major problem. There are some dockage areas which boats can use for occupants to go ashore, and seems unlikely that those would be closed. All sailboaters have dingys, so it would be easy for them to row ashore anyway. Maybe this is aimed at the PWC crowd, buzzing around the shorelines and beaches? If so, fine by me. I remember not finding a lot to do at the Apostles from a powerboater's perspective. Nice scenery to see from water, but not many places to actually enjoy them, since I'm not one to beach my Whaler. And the water's too cold to swim ashore. My problem was that that I launched in the Apostles after having spent 3 days at Isle Royale National Park! Now that's Lake Superior boating and recreation at it's finest. The Apostles were dull in comparison.
galaxygirl	posted 01-12-2002 07:08 PM ET (US) This is fear mongering. I have sailed and boated in the islands for nearly twenty years and even though kayakers are a growing user group they are not even close to matching sailboating, power cruising, fishing both commercial and recreational and other power boat tourism in terms of monetary strength. What's more, there is actually a commercial shipping lane through the islands. As for cruising in the islands, it's too bad you didn't beach on some of the islands. My friends have a 28' center console Whaler (Outrage?) and we had a blast cruising up to some beautiful beaches and barbecuing. Fun, fun. Almost enough to make me sell my sailboat there. (I only have a 13 footer...)
jimh	posted 01-13-2002 01:21 AM ET (US) I would not call it fear mongering. Look at the situation with Isle Royal, now designated a wilderness area. One problem I have with the wilderness designation is that it seems to have been used in the past to the detriment of recreational boating (except for kayak).
David Pendleton	posted 01-13-2002 02:54 PM ET (US) I have to say, I cannot fathom why this is even being considered. I'm not aware of any 'damage' being done to the park. A large(r) part of the local economy is based on recreational boating. Primarily sailboats. I been there a half-dozen times I can't recall ever seeing a boat beached on an island. In fact, the island that seemed to attract the most activity was Devil's Island, the most 'developed' of the park's islands. I don't see this happening, but I'm troubled that it's even being considered.