10.b River Taskforce Letter 41
k.cammilleri
Subject:Comment re: River Task Force
From: Merritt Clapp-Smith
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 10:37 AM
To: k.cammilleri <k.cammilleri@ci.scandia.mn.us>; c.maefsky <c.maefsky@ci.scandia.mn.us>
Cc: Craig Smith
Subject: Comment re: River Task Force
Mayor Maefsky and Ken,
I wish to submit the following comments regarding the creation of a River Task Force, which I understand is
being considered by the Scandia City Council.
I strongly support the creation of a River Task Force to consider the impact of certain boating and fishing
activities on the Scandia and Marine/May Township stretch of St. Croix river. I have spent summers on this part
of the river since the mid 1970s and seen it go through a number of changes. I remember when the "no wake"
requirements went into effect, and decades later when boats coming north from below Arcola were prohibited to
stop the spread of zebra mussels. In each case, there was a significant decrease in large power boat traffic on
this stretch of the river.
Since the 1970s, areas of the river have become shallower, with large bars of sand inches below the water
covering nearly the entire width. During low water time, it's very hard for boats with deep motors to navigate
the river, which provides a natural barrier to most large boats and motors.
Nevertheless, there are some issues which are 'newer' to the river (emerging in the past 3-10 years):
- The National Park Service, which used to regularly patrol the river for years, no longer has the budget for
patrols. Therefore, there is no entity to give notice or fines to boaters operating at excessive speeds, creating
excessive wake, or operating without lights or pfds. The park service patrols used to be the key element that
kept boat activity within legal parameters.
- A new type of boat is appearing on the river, which goes fast and is very loud. You can hear it long before it
appears and long after it disappears. It's even loud when heard from our home considerably up and back from
the river on the bluff.
- There is another boat that is very loud and creates a really loud wake. From our set back, bluff location, we
can hear the large waves crashing on the shore when it goes by. We usually never hear any wake from boats.
Erosion is most certainly occurring on the shoreline from the large wake.
- Nighttime spot lights for fishing are a problem. I have heard about them for a number of years from people
who live on the river, but hadn't observed them myself until last summer. I woke in the middle of the night and
looked out the window from our blufftop location and across to the Wisconsin side. I saw a very bright
yellowish glow near the base of the Wisconsin bluff. I went outside and looked at it from different locations.
The glow flickered and lit up an area about the size of a dozen trees. I finally decided that it must be a small
forest fire, started from a campfire. However, I wanted to confirm before calling 911, so I woke my husband
2
and we raced down to the riverbank in the wee hours of the night. There we spent about 5 minutes staring at it
and noticed that it was slowly moving northward, though there was no wind. We finally decided that it had to be
a very bright light on a boat back in the slough. It seemed that it had to be some type of spotlight. I felt very bad
for the wildlife in the area, while being relieved it wasn't a forest fire.
The activities described above - loud engines, large wake, spotlights - have no place on this stretch of the river
as a protected National Scenic Riverway. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the river without those things.
I hope that a River Task Force can provide the attention and time needed to better document what's occurring,
determine what is and isn't appropriate, and how to manage it. Enforcement of existing rules, as the NPS used to
do, would be a great start.
Thank you for considering this.
Merritt Clapp-Smith
20XXX Quinnell Av N 55073