Seagull Bay Yacht Club trying to meet regulations in order to stay open
A popular recreation area in American Falls could be closing. The Seagull Bay Yacht Club operates a campground and marina on the American Falls reservoir.
Now, the Bureau of Reclamation said there’s regulations the club needs to meet in order to keep operating.
The yacht club leases the land from the BOR. So the land is public, which means it must be fore public use. The BOR feels the club is more of a private entity, but Seagull Bay said that’s not true.
Seagull Bay Yacht Club has been around for 60 years. They currently operate on 10-year leases the land from the BOR. The current lease is up at the end of this year, so in order to renew, the club needs to meet BOR’s standards.
Ryan Newman, manager of the BOR Upper Snake River region, said one of the biggest issues the BOR has with the club is private exclusive use versus public use.
The BOR feel the club is more for “members only” than it is for public. One example of this is that there are more RV camping spots for members than there are for public. There are only about 8 spots for public use. But Seagull Bay said they always accommodate.
“We’ve never turned the public away,” said Doug Balfour, attorney for the Seagull Bay Yacht Club. “If anyone has asked for a spot, they get one.”
The club said there is a huge worry it has with one of BOR’s regulations.
“The most concerning thing is that they do not allow, generally, people to camp for more than 14 days.”
The club’s members usually pay long-term leases to the club to camp all summer, and Balfour said that’s the main income for the club.
“The members of the Seagull Bay Yacht Club provides the bulk of the operating expenses to keep this whole facility going for the public,” Balfour said. “Without those membership dues and those long-term leases, this place would not exist.”
Newman said the BOR wants the club to continue operating, but it has regulations to be bound by too.
“Our intentions aren’t to come along and ask them to leave the reservoir, or remove them,” Newman said. “Rather, we’re just trying to navigate the web of rules and come up with a way to allow them to successfully operate on the reservoir. We’re committed to working through the process and trying to find a solution and a pass forward.”
The club said one of its biggest benefits is that the Power County Sheriff’s Office often uses the bay as a launching pad for search and rescue boats. The club hopes by pointing out benefits like these to the BOR, it will show the bureau there is a lot of public use at the bay.
The BOR said it would like to see an operating plan from the club, incorporating more public use. Both sides hope to have the issue resolved by the end of summer.
