Bill Kiene semi-retired
03-15-2011, 08:18 AM
Guides say state changes are on the right path....
By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune
March 13, 2011 3:25 AM
Oregon's professional outdoor guides are showing support for stepped-up enforcement to root out "rogue" guides and changes that would increase professionalism among their ranks.
The Oregon State Marine Board has been touring the state in recent weeks to hold conversations with some of Oregon's roughly 1,300 licensed guides to see what parts of their management should be tweaked for the first time in about 20 years.
Under current rules, fishing enthusiasts need only pay a $50 fee, gain CPR certification and garner insurance to take customers fishing on rivers such as the Rogue for as much as $200 per person a day.
But unlicensed and unbonded guides are still chipping at the client base for professional guides amid a tough economic climate, and the pros want the rogues to pay, Marine Board officials say.
"Illegal guiding is a top issue," says Randy Henry, a Marine Board policy analyst working on reshaping the agency's guide program.
"The folks going through the right hoops are frustrated at the lack of enforcement and other guides slipping by without the correct certifications," Henry says. "They want a level playing field."
More discussion about how that playing field should look will come to White City on Tuesday when the Marine Board holds a local hearing as part of its outfitter and guide program review.
The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Jackson County Auditorium, 7520 Table Rock Road.
Some local guides say that pulling the unlicensed guides into the legal fold is something most established guides would assist.
"We all had to start somewhere," says Craig Sutton, a Medford-based guide. "We'll help them, as long as they're legal."
Others are watching the process unfold carefully while they attend meetings and help craft what their largely unregulated profession will look like in the future.
"It does sound like they're trying and listening," says Trail guide Vernon Grieve, who sits on the Marine Board's Guides Advisory Committee. "It's nice to really include the people who are affected."
Before 1984, fishing, hunting and so-called "adventure" guides, such as whitewater rafting companies, were managed under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and one of the requirements for joining their ilk was to get sponsored by two licensed guides.
When the Oregon Legislature gave the program to the Marine Board in 1984, about 250 licensed guides were paying $25 for a license. In 1988, the fee was doubled and has not been changed since.
Largely due to its small size and minimal oversight by one part-time employee, the Marine Board's director in 1990 recommended the program die off. But the Legislature wanted to continue some oversight, and it remained in place.
Any fee increase must come through the Legislature, and past attempts to boost the program's fees have died.
Recent requirements for proficiency in running whitewater rapids for guides has snowballed into the new review. Seasoned guides are now discussing topics ranging from guide corporations to illegal guides and ways to improve their professional image.
"The guides are interested in demonstrating their professionalism and show their clients they can handle things safely," Henry says.
Complaints, however, remain few. And a review of 2010 Marine Board law-enforcement data shows that of the nearly 20,000 boater contacts on Oregon waterways, just 97 included guides or outfitters, Henry says. And of those, four citations were issued, he says.
Cases against illegal guides are difficult to make, but the crime is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.
Before the round of public meetings, almost half of the state's 1,268 licensed guides filled out a Marine Board survey. Of those, most guides believe the Marine Board should have authority to revoke guiding licenses of those who lost similar licenses in other states, and that the agency should sanction outfitters and guides for boating-safety and other violations.
Fishing guides have taken issue with the practice of allowing unlicensed guides to work as employees of other licensed and bonded guides without any certifications needed.
"Some of that stuff has got to stop," Sutton says. "Everybody who gets paid to deal with the public needs to have a guide's license and insurance."
"Guides think everybody who operates a boat for hire needs to be registered as a guide," Henry says.
In meetings so far, guides largely have opposed capping their numbers or limiting their presence on certain rivers considered over-crowded, such as the Elk and Chetco rivers of Curry County, Henry says.
Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or e-mail at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110313/NEWS/103130349
By Mark Freeman
Mail Tribune
March 13, 2011 3:25 AM
Oregon's professional outdoor guides are showing support for stepped-up enforcement to root out "rogue" guides and changes that would increase professionalism among their ranks.
The Oregon State Marine Board has been touring the state in recent weeks to hold conversations with some of Oregon's roughly 1,300 licensed guides to see what parts of their management should be tweaked for the first time in about 20 years.
Under current rules, fishing enthusiasts need only pay a $50 fee, gain CPR certification and garner insurance to take customers fishing on rivers such as the Rogue for as much as $200 per person a day.
But unlicensed and unbonded guides are still chipping at the client base for professional guides amid a tough economic climate, and the pros want the rogues to pay, Marine Board officials say.
"Illegal guiding is a top issue," says Randy Henry, a Marine Board policy analyst working on reshaping the agency's guide program.
"The folks going through the right hoops are frustrated at the lack of enforcement and other guides slipping by without the correct certifications," Henry says. "They want a level playing field."
More discussion about how that playing field should look will come to White City on Tuesday when the Marine Board holds a local hearing as part of its outfitter and guide program review.
The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Jackson County Auditorium, 7520 Table Rock Road.
Some local guides say that pulling the unlicensed guides into the legal fold is something most established guides would assist.
"We all had to start somewhere," says Craig Sutton, a Medford-based guide. "We'll help them, as long as they're legal."
Others are watching the process unfold carefully while they attend meetings and help craft what their largely unregulated profession will look like in the future.
"It does sound like they're trying and listening," says Trail guide Vernon Grieve, who sits on the Marine Board's Guides Advisory Committee. "It's nice to really include the people who are affected."
Before 1984, fishing, hunting and so-called "adventure" guides, such as whitewater rafting companies, were managed under the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and one of the requirements for joining their ilk was to get sponsored by two licensed guides.
When the Oregon Legislature gave the program to the Marine Board in 1984, about 250 licensed guides were paying $25 for a license. In 1988, the fee was doubled and has not been changed since.
Largely due to its small size and minimal oversight by one part-time employee, the Marine Board's director in 1990 recommended the program die off. But the Legislature wanted to continue some oversight, and it remained in place.
Any fee increase must come through the Legislature, and past attempts to boost the program's fees have died.
Recent requirements for proficiency in running whitewater rapids for guides has snowballed into the new review. Seasoned guides are now discussing topics ranging from guide corporations to illegal guides and ways to improve their professional image.
"The guides are interested in demonstrating their professionalism and show their clients they can handle things safely," Henry says.
Complaints, however, remain few. And a review of 2010 Marine Board law-enforcement data shows that of the nearly 20,000 boater contacts on Oregon waterways, just 97 included guides or outfitters, Henry says. And of those, four citations were issued, he says.
Cases against illegal guides are difficult to make, but the crime is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $2,500 to $5,000.
Before the round of public meetings, almost half of the state's 1,268 licensed guides filled out a Marine Board survey. Of those, most guides believe the Marine Board should have authority to revoke guiding licenses of those who lost similar licenses in other states, and that the agency should sanction outfitters and guides for boating-safety and other violations.
Fishing guides have taken issue with the practice of allowing unlicensed guides to work as employees of other licensed and bonded guides without any certifications needed.
"Some of that stuff has got to stop," Sutton says. "Everybody who gets paid to deal with the public needs to have a guide's license and insurance."
"Guides think everybody who operates a boat for hire needs to be registered as a guide," Henry says.
In meetings so far, guides largely have opposed capping their numbers or limiting their presence on certain rivers considered over-crowded, such as the Elk and Chetco rivers of Curry County, Henry says.
Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470, or e-mail at mfreeman@mailtribune.com.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110313/NEWS/103130349