Letter to the Editor: Boating on the Ashokan

To the editor:

Kayak, canoe, row, or sail the Ashokan Reservoir! This is the second season for AshokanBoaters.org, a boating group dedicated to bringing the DEP's recreational boating program to the Ashokan.

  • A visit to the Cannonsville Reservoir will show you how well the recreational boat program is running and how fabulous it is to be paddling, rowing, or sailing on beautiful reservoir waters.
  • Although the DEP isn’t ready to consider recreational boating on the Ashokan right now, they are waiting for the 3 year pilot program on the Cannonsville Reservoir to wrap up this year, write the assessment report (by Matthew D. Rudikoff Associates ) and, based on the report, decide what to do next. This puts us less than a year away from the possibility of a decision.
  • There are about 1800 fishing boats presently stored around the Ashokan. Observe for yourself how many are being used, and when.
  • In days gone by, there were 3 times the number of fisherman active today, so recreational boating can be seen as bringing reservoir use back up to former levels.

This interesting observation suggests that existing infrastructure can accommodate a limited number of recreational boaters right now, requiring an absolute minimum of expense.

We already have more than 850 signatures on our petition. You can sign it on our website: AshokanBoaters.org.

Thanks very much,
Curry Rinzler
Project Manager for AshokanBoaters.org

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