Sutherland is right person for boatlifts issue

Posted: Thursday, Oct 09, 2008 - 02:59:31 pm PDT
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By Michael Campbell 

President

Northwest Marine Trade Association

SEATTLE — Occasionally an issue arises that seems to surprise everyone. This year, the issue of boatlifts around Moses Lake is that issue. Whether these issues end in conflict or resolution depends on whether our elected leaders listen to us or listen only to Olympia.

Thanks to Doug Sutherland, we are on the right path to solve what could have been a serious problem.

Last spring, I got a call from John Herman of Columbia Basin Marine and Ironworks asking if I knew about plans by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to start charging a license fee for boatlifts.

It was the first I heard of it and I told John I would look into the issue. It was an easy call to make because we have a great working relationship with DNR and Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland.

Doug gave me his perspective on the issue including using the word “meander line” and lots of time spent on the high-water mark at statehood.

My next step was phone calls to our other members who build boatlifts to see if they knew anything about charging $175 per year for the privilege of putting a boat-lift in front of someone’s house. I drove to Moses Lake for the meeting with DNR and a small group of Grant County residents.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the puzzle pieces were starting to fit. After listening to the public comments, talking to Doug Sutherland and his staff and conversations with Representatives Bill Hinkle and Judy Warnick, I came to a few conclusions.

1. In 1984, the Legislature made sure that waterfront homeowners could have a dock in front of their house without being charged a fee.

2. In 2002, the Legislature said that the right also included one mooring buoy.

3. Since the DNR does not receive general funds from the Legislature to pay for their operations, and since money is tight, someone within the agency decided that licensing boatlifts could be a new source of revenue.

4. The effort was, however, not done with enough discussion or notice and caught people off guard.

From my perspective, it seems like cooler minds are prevailing and DNR has no intention of implementing the earlier plan. Doug told me that he told DNR staff to step back and hold meetings around the state to look at the boatlift issue in a larger context of what services DNR should and could be providing for boaters.

That makes sense to me. Our mission at the NMTA is to “grow recreational boating” and our goal in Olympia is to encourage the seven state agencies which regulate, tax or administer boating programs to “serve our boaters better.”

Our organization supported Doug Sutherland when he first ran in 2000 to replace Jennifer Belcher. We endorsed him again in 2004 and 2008. The whole “boatlift” issue has confirmed that Doug is the right person to lead DNR over the next four years because he stepped into a difficult situation and quickly redirected the ship using some simple common sense. Having someone in Olympia who listens to us made all the difference.

At the same time, let there be no doubt our organization does not believe it is fair to single out waterfront homeowners in an attempt to balance the DNR books. If necessary, we will join Hinkle and Warnick in the next legislative session to make sure that boatlifts have the same protection afforded to docks and mooring buoys.

Debates about property lines around Moses Lake might continue for another 100 years, but I don’t see a reason why boatlifts need to be a part of the debate.

Michael Campbell is president of the Northwest Marine Trade Association based in Seattle. The NMTA is 60 years old with over 800 members including boat builders, dealers, marinas, boatyards and boat lift manufactures including Columbia Basin Marine and Ironworks.

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