Local experts, riverfront residents, business owners and officials sounded off to the Oregon State Marine Board on a topic that technically could be boiled down to the term “jet boats,” but in practice covered a wide range of boating concerns on the upper Rogue River.

Shady Cove’s mayor pleaded for the state to restrict a nascent breed of watercraft growing in popularity, while anglers and a local jet boat operator traded barbs Wednesday in front of the marine board at a meeting in Medford to discuss proposed boat operations restrictions for a section of the Rogue River between the former location of the Gold Ray Dam to Lost Creek Reservoir.

The state marine board met at the SOU/RCC Higher Education Center in downtown Medford to discuss a rulemaking petition that was issued by a group of conservationists and riverfront property owners known as Rogue River Guardians that would restrict boats to no more than 15 horsepower above Table Rock Bridge. 

The issue has been debated sometimes passionately and has simmered for years, with community meetings organized by the Oregon’s Kitchen Table project to gather public input.

The work session Wednesday included presentations from members of Rogue River Guardians, an Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist, the city of Shady Cove, Rogue Jet Boat Adventures and well over a dozen public comments.

Based on public input, the board has the option to adopt the presentation as recommended, set a different set of draft rules or make the determination that no rules are necessary. Written public comments may be submitted by 5 p.m. Oct. 16 by email to jennifer.cooper@boat.oregon.gov or by mail to Oregon State Marine Board, Attn: Jennifer Cooper, 435 Commercial St. NE Ste. 400, Salem, OR 97301.

Emotions ran high throughout the daylong meeting, with Rogue River Guardians member Bob Hunter, also a founding member of WaterWatch of Oregon, breaking down in tears at the belief his decades of conservation work would be eroded and Rogue Jet Boat Adventures owner Taylor Grimes claiming “nefarious activities” brought on the Marine Board’s work session in Jackson County.

“It’s no secret that misinformation and propaganda have been able to organize an attempt to eliminate powerboat use on the upper Rogue River,” Grimes said, highlighting a previous effort in 2017 from the Rogue Flyfishers. “Over the last two years, many untrue statements have been made.”

Grimes described misinformation campaigns deployed and consultants hired to convince state agencies “to take action on something that simply doesn’t exist.”

The tour route is only 10 miles long, from the old Gold Ray Dam site to Rattlesnake Rapids. It goes by approximately 20 homes, Grimes told the marine board. Grimes said the section of the Upper Rogue that his company operates on is one of the lightest traveled sections on the entire river.

“More people use the permitted wilderness section of the Rogue River than use this section of river we operate on a daily basis,” Grimes said.

Acrimony between anglers and Rogue Jet Boat Adventures

Grimes said his business is providing detailed videos to the marine board of every tour the company held in 2023 and 2024. On average, Grimes said they encounter on average four to five other river users on a trip.

“The purpose of this is to dispel any misinformation that would pertain to our company not operating safely or courteously, and clearly show the number of river users encountered on a daily basis,” Grimes said.

That transparency seemed to be at least partially in response to a complaint lodged against Grimes by Rogue Flyfishers president John Pogue, who claimed he called the sheriff’s office after Grimes never slowed down for him while he was in the water near TouVelle Park during Labor Day weekend.

“Mr. Grimes shows no respect for the wading angler,” Pogue alleged. “On both (Sept.) 1st and the 2nd, Mr. Grimes never slowed down once while passing me and wouldn’t even look up to acknowledge me.”

Grimes made claims during his presentation that were highly critical of anglers. He told the board he was providing a list of exhibits that Grimes claimed included a study on wading anglers that showed that they had “up to a 96% kill rate on animals with a walk into the water and a walk back out.”

Grimes claimed that a jet boat’s thrust is at the top 3 to 4 inches of the water, and once on plane is “completely out of the water,” to make the argument that compared to a propeller-based motorboat, a jet boat makes less impact. 

Grimes also provided the board a formal complaint he submitted to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife against fish biologist Dan Van Dyke, who presented in his official capacity at Wednesday’s meeting. Grimes claimed that because of Van Dyke’s connections to conservation efforts with Rogue Flyfishers, he overlooked their harms.

“In my absolute humble opinion, any recommendation given by Mr. Van Dyke that has any modification to the river user group jet boats is isolating the least impactful, per study,” Grimes said.

A unique fish habitat

Van Dyke’s presentation focused on the unique habitats and the fish that spawn on the upper Rogue River throughout the year.

He highlighted how species of fish not found anywhere else in Oregon are incubated within a 32-mile stretch of the Rogue River at a time when the ecosystem is growing more fragile.

“You won’t find early run summer steelhead anywhere else in the Rogue Watershed,” Van Dyke said. 

And while fall Chinook salmon are widely distributed around several hundred miles in this watershed, “spring Chinook are just here.”

Spring Chinook are considered a “state sensitive” or threatened species, Van Dyke told the marine board. He voiced concerns about spring migratory fish due to declining snowpack. The Rogue Valley has continually been in drought conditions since 2013.

“I want to make one thing clear: How we steward the upper Rogue is going to determine the viability of spring Chinook,” Van Dyke said.

Hunter, with Rogue River Guardians, highlighted some of the unique spawning grounds in the upper Rogue and said the river is a fishery “extremely important economically to the region” and supports a multimillion dollar commercial fishing industry. 

He said he spent “over 30 years of my career” working to preserve it, and said the state has invested millions of dollars into the basin.

Hunter said between sobs that unregulated jet boat use “compromises these investments and poses a risk to salmon, steelhead and the health of the river.”

“There is no room in the state more worthy of protection or for all our state agencies to do everything they can to protect it,” Hunter said.

Concerns about mini jet boats

Multiple individuals — including Shady Cove Mayor Jon Ball — pleaded with the marine board to take action now on a new wave of small, high-powered watercraft before they grow in popularity.

Ball acknowledged that the issue of mini jet boats — compact watercraft closer in size to that of a personal watercraft such as a SeaDoo or JetSki but shaped like a traditional aluminum jet boat — is “overlapping and combined” but different to concerns related to commercial jet boats on the upper Rogue. 

Shady Cove’s tourism economy includes five rafting companies. City council president Kathy Nuckles voiced concern to the marine board that rafts and the lightweight, high-powered small jet boats are not compatible.

“Our hope is the marine board can get in front of this,” Nuckles said.

The mini jet boats first appeared on the river a few years ago, and are only starting to grow in popularity, multiple people told the marine board.

During public comments, river users were more blunt about the watercraft. 

One Shady Cove resident described the sound of speeding mini jet boats “like listening to drag cars” driving on the freeway. She told the marine board that she “nearly became a statistic” while rafting on the upper Rogue last summer.

Licensed river guide Steve Walser of Trail told the marine board “I have an ear for it,” mimicking high-revving motor sounds. He said he was in a large raft — “not a kid in a kayak” — when he had a near-miss incident last year.

“I am here to tell you if you don’t do something about this now, somebody’s blood will be on your hands,” Walser said.