Watercraft

National Park Service officials in charge of the Lake Mead Recreational Area announced Wednesday that personal watercraft will continue to be allowed at the 1.5-million-acre park. The decision was prompted by a court order to ban the machines if park officials failed to devise a management plan and conduct environmental studies.

A ban on personal watercraft at Lake Mead National Recreation Area has been postponed until April 10, the National Park Service said. The Park Service reached an agreement with Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based environmental group, that will allow use of personal watercraft until April 10 while officials for the recreation area finalize a management plan for lakes Mead and Mohave. The Park Service was supposed to have had the plan finalized and environmental impacts assessed by Sept.

The National Park Service on Tuesday reversed decisions by three national parks to permanently ban personal watercraft from their waterways. Those parks--Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida and Mississippi, Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina--are among eight parks that will temporarily prohibit access for personal watercraft (known by trade names such as Jet Ski, Wave Runner and SeaDoo) beginning Monday.

The Bush administration will not try to delay a ban on personal watercraft scheduled to take effect April 22 in 13 national parks and recreation areas. The ban is a result of a Clinton-era rule that set a deadline for parks to either establish regulations governing the watercraft or impose a blanket ban. Personal watercraft, familiarly known by the trade name Jet Ski, are high-speed, gas-powered vessels designed to be ridden by one or two people.

An Orange County-based group sued the federal government Thursday to halt impending bans on personal watercraft in 21 national recreation and seashore areas. In addition to requiring officials to do environmental assessments of the effects of Jet Skis, WaveRunners and other small watercraft on the lakes, islands and coastal stretches, the American Watercraft Assn.'s lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop bans from taking effect in April and September.

A man riding a personal watercraft died after a duck hit him in the head, knocking him into a lake, sheriff's officials said. Leon Resnick, 31, was riding the watercraft last week at a lake in Deerfield Beach while a friend watched from shore, the Broward County sheriff's office said. The friend turned to get a radar gun to check the vessel's speed, then noticed Resnick was not on the vehicle. He found him several minutes later in the water.

The Bush administration has decided to review bans on jet-powered skis and similar watercraft at four national parks in Eastern and Midwestern states. The action provoked concern among conservation groups that the bans will be weakened or overturned. But critics of the bans cheered the move, saying that some park officials had acted precipitously in prohibiting the use of popular jet-powered skis and other small motorized craft. Interior Secretary Gale A.

When it comes to big discretionary items, such as vacation homes, recreational vehicles and watercraft, financial planners often counsel that it's much better to rent than to buy. That's because you incur costs only when you use it, and you're likely to use these things so infrequently that buying simply "doesn't pencil out." Phil and Kristi Berlioz of Valencia beg to differ. They bought a half-interest in a speedboat 11 years ago for water-skiing.

In the aftermath of a collision that killed a Long Beach windsurfer four months ago, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission took a crucial step Wednesday to ban all powerboats and personal watercraft from a portion of the harbor and Cabrillo Beach. Citing safety reasons, the board unanimously approved a measure to set speed limits and to create an exclusive zone for nonmotorized vessels for at least 90 days beginning Feb. 15.

After being injured several times on dirt bikes, Rick Dennis decided to switch to something he thought was safer but just as exciting--a water-jet-powered personal watercraft. "I like the physical challenge," said Dennis, coasting to a stop after skimming the lake at 40 mph on his Yamaha Wave Runner 2. But these increasingly popular small craft--which include Kawasaki's Jet Ski brand--may not be as safe as Dennis thought they were.