Racers versus Rod and Rifle Crowd

The sailing community of southwestern Idaho is fighting an environmental proposal that has concerns about sailboat racing. In this part of the country that values hunting and fishing, they see organized races as the problem. Huh?

The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge wants to no longer allow regattas on Lake Lowell as a part of the their Final Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

“There are several concerns with the sailing regattas. There is the potential disturbance to wildlife,” said Susan Kain, the Visitor Services Manager at the Deer Flat Wildlife Refuge.

Kain said, it is a 15-year plan to develop a policy for all activities and the decision is based on a three-tier system. The first tier is wildlife protection, second is safeguarding those activities that are dependent on wildlife like hunting, fishing, and photography and the third tier is anything that doesn’t support those.

According to the draft, regattas fall into the third category…. read on