Navy’s restricted boating zone goes permanent

By Brian Kelly

Herald Writer

NAVAL STATION EVERETT — A temporary "no-go" zone for boaters near Naval Station Everett will become permanent on June 23.

Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over navigable waters, say terrorist attacks against Americans have made the restricted zone a necessity.

"Basically, the Navy requested it for security purposes so they would be able to patrol that area themselves and take jurisdiction over that area," said Patricia Graesser, spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District.

"We just really concurred with the Navy’s concern in light of the events of Sept. 11 and the attack on the USS Cole," Graesser said.

Within the east waterway, the restricted area is a 300-foot zone around moored vessels and the major piers of the naval station. The restricted area is less than 300 feet from other parts of the Navy installation. Fishing, mooring and recreational boaters can’t enter the zone unless they have prior written permission from the commanding officer of Naval Station Everett.

Talk of a restricted zone around the Navy station in Everett has been around since the mid-1990s, said Lt. j.g Bill Couch, spokesman for Navy Region Northwest, which coordinates base-operating support activities for the Navy in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.

No-go zones that have been suggested in the past, though, created concern among boaters because they included restrictions at the mouth of the Snohomish River. The newest zone doesn’t.

Navy ships also have a 100-yard exclusion zone, off-limits to private boats, and a 500-yard protection zone where other boats fall under the direction of the Coast Guard or the Navy ship itself, Couch said.

Those zones remain in effect, he added, even though there is a large, base-area restricted zone now in place.

"This is designed to protect the base, whether or not ships are in port," Couch said.

Alan Grim said the no-go zone isn’t expected to affect the Friday night Log Dodge sailboat races that the Milltown Sailing Association hosts, starting June 7 and throughout the summer.

Employees at the Mosquito Fleet, however, are worried that the zone may put tour boats too far away from a colony of Californiasea lions near Naval Station Everett.

Male sea lions live in the area every summer, coming up north to feed while the mothers stay south to rear their offspring. "It’s their bachelor pad for the summer," said Mary Stinson, a Mosquito Fleet employee.

But Capt. Daniel Squires, commander of Naval Station Everett, said the Navy will work with the community in reviewing requests from those who seek a waiver to the restriction zone.

"If there’s anything we can do to help the community, we will facilitate that any way we can," Squires said.

The Navy has granted waivers in the past, he added, for such things as families who wanted to scatter the ashes of loved ones near the Navy’s ships.

The restricted zone is crucial to the security of the naval station, he said. And the zone shouldn’t impact boaters or operations at the nearby Port of Everett.

"For us, it gives us a defined area that belongs to Naval Station Everett, so we can defend and support our Navy ships that are here," Squires said.

You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.

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