Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore has announced a ban on the use of personal watercraft within the boundaries of the park, effective April 22.

According to a statement released Wednesday, Indiana Dunes is one of five National Park Service areas which has opted to institute such a ban, in a decision reached “after the NPS conducted an extensive public review process and an analysis of several factors including potential resource impacts and visitor use conflicts at these areas.”

Also banning the use of personal watercraft are Cape Cod National Seashore, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Cumberland Island National Seashore, and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. These five are part of an original 21 sites identified in April 2000 by the NPS as “places where continued use of this water-based recreational activity might be appropriate but needed further evaluation,” the statement said.

Said Indiana Dunes Superintendent Dale Engquist, “All (personal watercraft) are prohibited within 300 feet of the shoreline on Lake Michigan waters adjacent to land administered by the National Lakeshore and on all inland lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers within or adjacent to land administered by the National Lakeshore. The prohibition of personal watercraft does not apply to the Lake Michigan waters adjacent to the Indiana Dunes State Park, the City of Gary from Lake/Porter County Line Road west to and including Marquette Park, the Port of Indiana, and the Burns/Portage Waterway.”

The ban will go into effect after a public comment period which resulted in nearly 2,700 comments which endorsed such a ban and fewer than 10 which opposed it, the statement said.

Personal watercraft are defined as small vessels, usually less than 16 feet in length, which use an inboard motor powering a water jet pump as its primary source of power. They are operated by persons sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel and are commonly referred to as wet bikes or by their trademarks: JetSki, Wave Runner, and SeaDoo.

Posted 4/18/2002