HELP ME!!!!

dancingwind · Since 18 Jul 2007 321 Posts Obsessed

Signed. Good luck.

NDKITE · Since 18 Dec 2009 5 Posts Del Rio, TX New Member

How do you propose offering a solution to the national park, that assures the park of safety and experience?

jackZ · Since 13 Apr 2008 355 Posts Devon Alberta ca. Obsessed

Superintendent of a lake ? HA !
Give one person power like that and see what happens . From what Ive seen here there seems no reason for the ruling .
We don't have any thing like that in Canada , all water is crown property up to high water . Use it as you feel like .
There are speed limits near swim areas and heavily populated areas with cottages but other than that .......... have fun !
Good luck
Jack
My sig. probably wouldn't mean anything being a canuck but again , good luck

surfboy1968 · Since 17 Jun 2008 224 Posts south padre island Stoked

Signed....
What you need to do is grease the manager with some money. Thats all it takes down here man..
And what would happen if you just went ahead and kited on the lake ? Who is policing the lake ? Bandidos ???

NDKITE · Since 18 Dec 2009 5 Posts Del Rio, TX New Member

When I first got here, I could find no law against it so I went for a couple of amazing sessions and then I got a $75 fine.

There are no public documents that state you can't but in their compendium there is a rule about it. The only way to see the compendium is to ask them for it.

tekko · Since 20 Feb 2006 376 Posts White Salmon Liquid Force

Nick

Signed! And thanks for sharing this!!

I agree with Ian... Iko or pasa doesn't really guarantee anything in terms of safety, etc. Many people have been kiting for years before these org's and since there is no national or international license or requirement, you wouldn't want to offer that up as something you're willing to do.

Since this is a National Park area, there is precedent. Specifically, Cape Hatteras, NC is a National Seashore and regulated under the national parks program. This is one of the biggest areas for kiteboarding in the USA and a model area for working with the park service and other federal org's for kiteboarding.

If I were you, I'd try to get in touch with Trip Forman at REAL Kiteboarding in Cape Hatteras. Give them a call at 866-REAL-KIT and get in touch with Trip. He is the one who has managed the kiteboarder relationship with the park service there over the past 10 years and has also shared this experience with others, specifically an access issue in NY a year ago. At a minimum, he can share with you what works and doesn't for the arguement for kiting in this area.

What is the windy season? Is it reliable enough that you could anticipate a time when it is very predictable, so that we could create an event there? That would be a great way to raise some awareness for kiting on the lake and show both the decision maker and the community what kiteboarding can bring. You're not that far out, so I bet if promoted you would get support from San Antonio and other central texas kiters.

PM me for email if you want to discuss further, but if the timing works out with the windy season, etc I would be happy to have Liquid Force involved in starting up an event there to promote awareness.

Good Luck!!!
Tekko- Liquid Force NW and TEXAS

surfboy1968 · Since 17 Jun 2008 224 Posts south padre island Stoked

Tekko, thats awesome man...I am not sure when the windy season is there ? Summer should be good with thermals ? Spring ? maybe ?
If you pull something together, the crew from SPI will come up to support !!!!

solkiter · Since 07 Jan 2008 251 Posts ROGUE VALLEY Obsessed

signed.. i dont like controll freeeeeeXXXXX!!
GOOOOD LUCK

Nak · Sun Dec 27, 09 9:58 am

Signed.

My advice would be to find out who appoints this superintendent. There must be some sort of guidelines that he is supposed to follow. Who owns the land? BLM lands are have conditions attached to them requiring public access.

Pretty clearly, this individual has a VERY slanted view of public access. I seriously doubt this petition will change his mind. However, it may change the mind of whoever appoints this a-hole.

Much depends on who actually controls the land. If a local politician appoints the superintendent, support his opponent. Hell, work on the guys campaign. Politicians live by trading favors... If some type of bureaucracy controls the land, dig into their own regulations. Find something that supports your cause. Who wrote this compendium? What's the process for changing it?

Good luck!

Slipin Lizard · Since 23 Sep 2005 88 Posts Hood River, Oregon Â

Nick, I used to work at a TV station, and one of the things that I saw that tended to work well was these kinds of stories getting to the media. If you can convince a local TV station to run a sympathetic story about this, chances are you'll get a lot more attention and the powers that be may change their minds. Also, talk to any student (collage/university) stations or Public Access stations you kind find, and see if you can get someone interested in this story. Believe me, when this guy starts getting calls asking him for interviews, or gets camera guys showing up at the lake, he's going to re-think his position. Don't forget you can also get a cheap camera and do your own "YouTube" documentary, and call him up asking for interviews ect. Good Luck!

krazedkiter · Since 08 Jun 2009 183 Posts Florida Stoked

Have you researched this part of it? This is governed by the Federal Code of Regulations The Super has the authority to tweak the CFR to meet the needs of the specific recreation area. You need to research the formal appeals process.

http://www.nps.gov/amis/parkmgmt/upload/Compendium%20FINAL%20SEPT%202007.pdf

Beow is an excerpt from the specific regulations to this park from September 2007:

Quote:

This regulation is to protect the fragile nature of the springs from damage.
Kitesurfing, kiteboarding, hang gliding, and parasailing (board riding while attached to wind-driven parachute-like objects or wing devices and/or towed by a vessel or vehicle) are prohibited. The closure is in effect on all park waters. (Also see Section 3.12(b)).
Kitesurfing/boarding, hang gliding, and parasailing within the National Recreation Area has been deemed an inappropriate activity given safety concerns and resource conflicts that the park is mandated to prevent. The reservoir is a highly used public area with many recreational activities including swimming, fishing, camping, and boating. These activities have a long history of compatible use. Kitesurfing/boarding, and parasailing requires large open areas free of people, obstacles, and other activities. Accepted safety practices by kitesurfing/boarding and parasailing associations and groups advocate no kiteboard or parasailing use in swim areas and avoidance of obstacles. A kite or parasail being operated in the air has a reach of at least 100’ and kite lines under tension can cut anything they touch like a razor. Hang gliding while attached to a vessel or vehicle is also prohibited due to the inherent safety risks associated with this activity and the dangers to others either in the towing vessel/vehicle or others nearby. A closure will ensure the safety of park visitors and avoidance of conflict among visitor use activities.
This closure does not include sailboarding, where a sail is permanently affixed to the board.

A petition from a bunch of other kiteboarders is not what you need. They feel this sport is a danger to other users of the park. I would suggest you contact Rick Iossi of the FKA. He is the biggest saftey advocate we know and have.

http://fksa.org/

ANd let me tell you. That rec area is a HUGE lake. You need to approach it from a different angle. Stake out your piece of the pie and where you might think a safe launch and landing area is. Cough up the money for bouys and marklers to identify teh lauch area. Rules regarding how close a kiter can come to another swimmer or object should be specified. Compare other uses that are much more dangeorus. For exampe, hunting is allowed. Do they allow you to hunt squirrels with a shotgun within the prime camping area? Hel no. They allow that much more dangerous activity in its own protected area. And do you think Billy Bobs 19 foot Bass boat with a 250 Hp Mercury screaming 60 MPH down the lake is any more safe?? A designated area.

Get to work!