U.S. National Park Service

Biscayne National Park Online

Canaveral National Seashore

Gulf Island National Seashore

Personal Watercraft Industry Association home page

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Starting this month, personal watercraft -- often referred to by the trade name "Jet Skis" -- will be banned in most National Parks. Already excluded from Everglades National Park, PWC use will be banned immediately in Biscayne National Park and Canaveral National Seashore. The ban will be phased in over two years at Gulf Island National Seashore.

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A ban on personal watercraft

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Starting this month, the National Park Service bans the use of personal watercraft in national parks. While some areas will be excluded, two of Florida's national park areas will see an outright ban (Sevy)...

"Personal water craft are going to be prohibited throughout the National Park System unless we specify, specifically, that it's appropriate."

The Park Service's Elaine Sevy says the personal watercraft ban is the first system-wide effort to regulate "mechanized recreation..."

"It's really expanding greatly, and as far as the National Park System, we do have to weigh the impacts of these kinds of activities and allow them where they are appropriate but also take into consideration other visitor uses that may conflict."

Those conflicting uses, along with protection of natural resources, led to the personal watercraft ban (Sevy)...

"What we've done is take a very prudent approach to this issue that would allow some of the use of the watercraft in some places yet protect park values and reduce visitor conflicts."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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No more Jet Skis in Florida's National Parks

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Later this month, the National Park Service will ban the use of personal watercraft in the nation's parks. In Florida, that includes Canaveral National Seashore, and Biscayne National Park near Miami, where Tony Dufficy is a park ranger...

"Our park is 95% water. We have 172,000 acres. So the majority of our visitors are using park waters for recreational or commercial use."

Even before the ban, Biscayne had tried "slow speed" zones in popular recreation areas (Dufficy)...

"One area of the park now is a slow speed zone. We had a lot of visitors who were in that area either with their personal boat or fishing perhaps, and they were getting buzzed by jetskiers -- people who were using the personal water craft."

But even with Florida's more than 75,000 personal watercraft, the national parks don't anticipate any problems from the ban (Dufficy)...

"Out of the 500,000 annual visitors that we get every year, it's a relatively small number. I don't have the exact percentage but it is a very small percentage -- people who use personal water craft in the park."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Watercraft popularity is its downfall

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

When the National Park Service bans personal watercraft from national parks this month, it comes partly as a result of the popularity of the vehicles, sometimes known by the trade name "Jet Ski." National Park Service spokesman Elaine Sevy says where there once few of the craft, suddenly there were many...

"But even if it's one or two in a wilderness setting, in a wilderness lake such as Yellowstone, even one or two are not appropriate in those kinds of settings."

Biscayne National Park ranger Toni Dufficy says the personal watercraft created new problems with their access to areas...

"They can get into areas that are very shallow. Previously only people in non motorized water craft like a canoe or kayak, or maybe even a person in a flats boat that was poling back into some of these areas, could get into."

And by "getting into" those more pristine areas, the watercraft riders endangered what the Park Service was protecting (Dufficy)...

"The people on the personal water craft are going into these areas that hadn't seen a motorized water craft before and it is affecting the flora and fauna in that area. It's a more concentrated effect of noise as well as a redistribution of the sea bottom."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Regulating mechanized recreation

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment

This month starts nationwide ban on personal watercraft in National Parks, and it is the first system-wide effort at regulating what's being called "mechanized recreation." Park Service spokesman Elaine Sevy says regulation is being considered for other mechanical recreation devices such as swamp buggies and snowmobiles...

"Yellowstone National Park has been going through a winter use management plan and they've been receiving a tremendous amount of public use comment with regards to snowmobiles. Denali National Park is going through the same thing."

So the new ban on personal watercraft will serve as a test for other regulations that might follow (Sevy)...

"This is the first of any of those kinds of rules regarding mechanized recreational activities that has been finalized."

While the personal watercraft ban will soon be system-wide, similar actions had been implemented on a park-by-park basis (Sevy)...

"It was that Yellowstone and Everglades was prohibited through special regulations and other management restrictions. And those are wilderness parks."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.

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Protection from watercraft

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

When the National Park Service starts its ban on personal water craft this month, part of the reason is the conflict that the small, maneuverable craft -- often called Jet Skis -- created with visitors seeking peace and quiet in the parks. But just as important was a concern about what the craft might be doing to the park's plants and animals (Dufficy)...

"People forget that we have plant and animal life that needs to be protected as part of the park mission."

Biscayne National Park Ranger Toni Dufficy says even though personal watercraft riders were enjoying nature, there was still a problem...

"It's one of those things that gets concentrated in an area where it's flat water, and it's usually a calm setting, so it can be seen as disruptive. Not just to other visitors, but to the wildlife itself, and to the setting itself."

Park Service spokesman Elaine Sevy says plants, animals and visitors will benefit from the new ban...

"We're trying to protect the wildlife. And we're also trying to protect the visitor use experience: people who go into those areas seeking solitude and the natural sounds of those settings, those parks."

For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University and funded by a grant from the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education.