The New York Times
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Jet Ski Ban Is Approved for National Parks

April 14, 2001

A federal judge has approved a settlement that bans Jet Skis and other personal watercraft from all national parks and recreation areas by Sept. 15, 2002.

The gasoline-powered personal watercraft are already prohibited in 66 of the 87 parks, recreational areas and seashores where motorized boats are allowed. The action on Thursday by Judge Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court extended the ban to the remaining 21.

In approving the settlement, Judge Kessler dismissed a challenge from watercraft manufacturers and vendors to an agreement negotiated last December by the Interior Department and the Bluewater Network, a San Francisco environmental group that sued the National Park Service to widen the ban. The Bush administration has endorsed the accord.

The ban will take effect by Sept. 15, 2002, unless the Park Service can prove that the machines do not harm the environment site by site.

Sean Smith, a spokesman for the Bluewater Network, said the ban would "better protect the visiting public as well as park resources and wildlife from these noisy, smelly and dangerous machines."

Monita Fontaine, the director of the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, said she still expected to get Jet Skis, which cost an average of $7,000, approved for use in the parks based on new technology that cuts emissions and noise.

Among others, Judge Kessler's order extends the ban to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Fire Island National Seashore in New York and Gateway National Recreation Area in New York.