After months of garnering public feedback and conducting research, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced last week it would not offer a jet boat concession at TouVelle State Recreation Site.

Because the park doesn’t set rules for use of the Rogue River, the decision does not affect whether jet boats will continue to travel the river and visit the state park. Motor boats, including jet boats, are allowed to use the river.

To expand recreation service at the park, a pilot project using a short-term special use permit allowed a local jet boat business — Rogue Jet Boat Adventures — to operate from the park last year, allowing it to post its business name and conduct transactions at the site. The pilot project ended in late 2022, and parks officials began studying whether to pursue a formal concession agreement, which typically lasts five years or more.

Rogue Jet Boat Adventures will continue to travel the river and visit the state park, but the business won’t have a kiosk or concession stand on the site.

One reason for the decision, Park Manager Nathan Seable said, is that while users “enjoy the park,” they also want to see it and the river protected “for the long run.”

“We want to be a good neighbor, and it’s pretty clear more community conversation is needed outside the park on this kind of question,” Seable said.

OPRD District Manager Dani Padilla said another reason to hold off on an agreement is for the “growth and change” of parks. For these sites to serve “a larger population,” Padilla said, places like TouVelle have to “be ready” — and that means updating the site “before we consider adding new services.”

State parks officials began studying whether there should be future long-term concession agreements last year, when the pilot program with Rogue Jet Boat Adventures ended.

The department staff’s research found that while some people were happy the business brought them access to the Rogue River, others were concerned about the safety of jet boats. The department held an open house and conducted an online survey that produced 1,600 responses.

The report asked people when they last visited TouVelle and which activities they engaged in while there. The report showed 527 respondents last visited the site in the summer of 2022; 411 visited in December 2021 or earlier; 372 visited from October 2022 to the time the survey was conducted; 160 respondents visited from April to June 2022; 73 could not recall when they last visited, and 48 said they visited from January to March 2022.

Meanwhile, 251 people said they had used the site for motorized boat launching or landing, while 342 said they had used nonmotorized boat launching or landing.

Non-boating recreational activities were the most popular at TouVelle. Nature trail walking got 725 responses; picnicking got 622; fishing saw 537; walking pets got 401 responses; swimming got 373; and 216 people engaged in “other activities.”

People’s responses, which take up the bulk of the 727-page report, are varied.

“Keep the Rogue Jet Boat concessions,” wrote one person

Others felt concessions would “only enhance the experience and encourage me and others to enjoy more aspects of the park.”

One person called concessions “a deterrent to many of us who visit there with our picnic and to enjoy the beauty and calm of the river.”

Taylor Grimes, owner of Rogue Jet Boat Adventures, told the Rogue Valley Tribune the department’s decision is “fine” and something his company can respect.

“I don’t need an agreement to load customers on the Rogue River into a boat,” Grimes said.

When Rogue Jet Boat Adventures had a concession agreement, Grimes noted, it included a small sign along the highway pointing people to the park and a small kiosk hidden in the trees.

“I was giving the state money to have a little kiosk there,” Grimes said.

Without a new concession agreement, he noted, “We saved a lot of money,” and now, “We’re just going to continue to do what we do and do it well.”

If the state revisits the issue of a concession agreement, Grimes would “welcome that with open arms.”