Conversations Continue Regarding Siletz River Usage

The Oregon State Marine Board recently held a work session on a controversial rules proposal for motorized boating on the Siletz River, taking invited testimony from local anglers, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and state fish and wildlife staff.

The proposed rules, approved for public notice at the board’s April 23 meeting, would allow boats with motors of 15 horsepower or less between Jack Morgan Park and an existing downstream boundary, with the river above that reach designated non-motorized and all tributaries above Jack Morgan closed to motors.

Written comments on the proposal are being accepted through July 20, after the board extended the original June 30 deadline and issued an amended rule notice with a revised fiscal impact statement. Alan Hanson, policy and environmental program manager said initial filings had asserted there was no fiscal impact, but guides and local businesses objected. The revised analysis acknowledges potential losses for some motorized guides, but concludes the overall economic effect on the area would be limited.

“Some of them could lose approximately 23% of their season income,” Hanson said of motorized guides, but added, “Yes, individuals will be impacted, but from a broad perspective, we don’t anticipate a significant fiscal impact.” He said a final vote on the rules is tentatively scheduled for the board’s July 30 meeting. If the board adopts a final rule, staff would update signage at affected sites, push information out on agency channels, and coordinate enforcement with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol and Oregon State Police. A one-year post-implementation review would focus on whether staff “effectively communicated” the rule and on boater education, not on reopening the rule itself.

Grant investments, ramps from Moonshine to Jack Morgan

Grant program manager Jean Pollack outlined state marine grant investments and site conditions at several key access points between Moonshine, also referred to as Twin Bridges and upstream parks, and Jack Morgan. She said most previous projects in the corridor used motorized-funds grants, predating the newer non-motorized Waterway Access Grant Program.

Sites discussed included:

• Twin Bridges and other county sites, where ramps and parking areas need repair and resurfacing• City of Siletz facilities, including Mill Park, where geotechnical work has identified an old slide area and the lower bench as unstable.

• Jack Morgan, where boaters have reported ramp and gravel parking deficiencies

Pollack said both Lincoln County and the City of Siletz are eligible for future grants and in good standing, but emphasized that both the motorized and non-motorized grant programs are oversubscribed and often require phasing projects. She also noted the board’s standard 25% local match can be reduced in cases of “extreme financial hardship.” County maintenance assistance for Lincoln County’s Siletz ramps currently totals about $25,500 per biennium, covering Jack Morgan, Ojalla and Twin Bridges.

Guides say petition “blindsided” them, offer compromise

Leaders of the Siletz Anglers Association (SAA) told the board they felt blindsided by the current petition to remove motor use on much of the upper river. They said they had worked for years with the city, county and tribe on access and fish projects. “We thought we were doing a good job of making a healthy relationship with the tribe,” one SAA representative said. “The petition, frankly, blindsided us.”

SAA members detailed volunteer labor and donations, including a recent $50,000 check to the City of Siletz to help stabilize access at Mill Park and past offers of matching funds for county ramp work. They argued that keeping at least limited motor use was critical for both access and hatchery broodstock collection. Guide Logan Ellis said he personally contributed nearly half of the winter steelhead broodstock needed last season. “This past season, I contributed 37 wild steelhead to the broodstock program,” Ellis said. “I could not have done that without my motor.”

He explained that brood fish are held in live wells on guide boats and dropped into cages below ramps such as at Hee Hee Illahee Park, requiring controlled upstream maneuvering in fast current. SAA warned that if the upper Siletz is no longer classified as a motorized waterway, future marine grants for facilities could be harder to secure, jeopardizing ramp repairs and expansions they are currently pursuing in Siletz and at sites like Logsden.

In place of a full motor ban, SAA presented two “community-driven” compromise options:

• A 15-horsepower cap on motors in the affected reach, which they argued would remove “larger high-speed boats” while preserving slower access and ADA options.• Allowing small electric motors above a chosen boundary, with 15 hp gas motors allowed below, modeled after motor/electric zones on other Oregon rivers. They recommended using the well-developed Hee Hee Illahee (Illehee) site rather than Old Mill as a motor-use deadline, citing better parking, lighting, bathrooms, ADA access and an existing overflow parking arrangement with the city. “Old Mill has no parking close to the ramp, no bathrooms, no handicap parking, no overflow parking, and isn’t a guide‑friendly site,” one SAA member said, adding that a steep, undermined ramp and prior vehicle accidents made it unsafe.

Tribe presents safety and congestion data, seeks stronger limits

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians stood by their original petition to restrict motors on the upper river, arguing that safety, congestion and ecological concerns have not been adequately addressed by voluntary “Respect the River” campaigns. Biologist Dylan Gorman presented results from a tribal motor-observation study conducted over 26 days in October on a private reach above Jack Morgan. Using video trail cameras, tribal staff categorized boats by type, user group and basic safety practices.

According to Gorman, non-motorized recreational users had the highest life jacket (PFD) wear rate at about 46 percent. Motorized charter guides — described as “the most educated, credentialed and largest user group on the river” — had the lowest observed compliance. “We did not observe a charter guide wearing a PFD,” Gorman said. “We did not observe a charter guide wearing a kill cord. Zero percent.”

The study found that most motors observed were small, with roughly three-quarters in the 0–10 horsepower range, but concluded that total motor use on the Siletz has risen sharply over the last 25 years. Tribal staff argued that more motors mean more wake conflicts with bank anglers and drift boats, more pressure on holding water, and more user conflict.

Gorman cited national U.S. Coast Guard data showing higher fatality rates in motorized incidents and said Siletz data do not support claims that motors inherently make the fishery safer.

“Non-motor operators deserve to recreate without being impacted by unsafe users,” he said, questioning whether it is fair “that other river users be subjected to the unsafe practices of another user group.” Tribal staff also raised concerns about potential impacts of boat wakes and motor use on shallow spawning gravels, bank erosion, water quality and sensitive life stages of salmon and lamprey, though they acknowledged that isolating motor effects in a single basin is scientifically difficult.

ODFW: fish populations generally stable, data on motors limited

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff from the Mid Coast district provided biological context on salmon and steelhead runs in the Siletz basin, including Chinook, coho, winter and summer steelhead, and trout. They described the Siletz as a “flashy” system with year‑round salmonid presence and spawning concentrated in mainstem and tributary gravels. Department conservation plans identify loss of habitat complexity and floodplain connectivity as primary limiting factors, with harvest, temperature and sediment as secondary factors.

Staff said ODFW has not conducted a formal study on the specific effects of gas or electric motors in the Siletz, but noted that other research has linked motorized use to potential disturbances of redds, substrate and riparian zones. They said any rule changes by the Marine Board would be considered within existing conservation and hatchery management plans.

Current hatchery work includes 50,000 smolt releases for summer and winter steelhead, supported by broodstock programs that rely heavily on guide participation and live wells. ODFW biologists acknowledged that a broad motor restriction could complicate broodstock collection, but said management tools exist to adapt if needed, such as changing release locations, harvest limits or collection methods. Available escapement and trap data suggest Siletz salmon and steelhead populations are generally “stable,” staff said, with significant year‑to‑year variation driven by ocean and freshwater conditions.

Next steps

written comment will be taken through July 20. Hanson said he will compile a summary of written and oral testimony from the hearing, work session and afternoon public comment for the Marine Board’s July 30 meeting, when a final vote on the Siletz rules is scheduled.

If the board makes significant changes to the proposal based on the record, another round of public notice and hearings could be required, potentially pushing a final decision to September.