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[BOOBMAN]

Is it a power statement or a safety issue?

Once again, the Bureau of Land Management has become involved in a process on Lake Havasu, and this time, delays could have dangerous consequences.

The Lake Havasu City Marine Association recently obtained a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard to place 18 buoys on the California side of Lake Havasu in areas considered to be hazardous to boaters.

In a meeting last week between the marine association, the Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the BLM, it was announced a BLM permit would be required before the buoys could be placed.

This process could take as long as six additional months for the permit to be approved and will require an environmental study.

A BLM spokesperson said the marine association would have to apply for a land-use permit and include any safety concerns in the application to possibly speed up the process, but it would still take months before any approval would be forthcoming, according to an earlier report in the Today’s News-Herald.

In addition to application fees and environmental study fees, there would possibly be an ongoing annual fee attached, payable to the BLM.

All sorts of use fees have been in stages of discussion by the BLM for some time — fees that could ultimately affect the use of the Lake by recreational boaters and the tourism industry in Lake Havasu City in general. BLM has cited its jurisdiction over the Lake numerous times since the floating vendor issue came to the fore last year.

As Jim Salscheider, marine association executive director, stated, the Coast Guard indicated if safety issues were involved, a permit would be issued “on the spot.” And the Coast Guard has verified there are safety issues in the shallow areas on the California side of the Lake — thus, their approval of the permit.

The marine association raised funds in 2009 to pay for the buoys and received support for their placement from public safety entities on both sides of the Lake from San Bernardino County to Mohave County law enforcement, so what’s the hold-up?

Increased safety on the Lake is the desired outcome for the buoy program and who better to administer it than the marine association?

We hope the BLM will act swiftly to approve this necessary program and perhaps prevent an accident waiting to happen.