The Sts’ailes First Nation is banning jet boats on the Chehalis River running through their land.
According to a July 6 statement from Chief Ches-Kin-Xen Chadley Paul, there has been an alarming trend of jet boats on the Chehalis River for the past few summers, which makes the river unsafe for swimming and directly damages critical salmon and their habitat.
“The Chehalis River is winding, narrow, shallow and has many obstacles that make it challenging to navigate under the best conditions,” Paul said. “Navigating it at high speed when children and families are in the water is reckless, and we fear tragedy is imminent.”
The Chehalis River flows through the middle of the Sts’ailes reserve; the Sts’ailes community has swam and fished in the river since time immemorial. The river is a designated Wildlife Management Area, and the area continues to be popular for camping, swimming, kayaking and fishing. Paul makes it clear in his statement that while visitors are welcome to their lands and waters, there is no place for jet boats on the Chehalis River.
Paul added that most people are safe about their recreation and the Sts’ailes community is deeply grateful for that majority. However, there has been growing outcry in the Sts’ailes First Nation with frustration about a lack of accountability for jet boat operators.
“Sts’ailes people are wondering how trespassers could have more rights than they do and questioning whether they will be able to continue letting their children play in the river with things continuing as they are,” Paul stated. “As chief, I’m not going to passively wait for one of our young people to die.”
Paul said last year, a jet boat nearly hit his granddaughter, who was swimming at the time. There have been two more incidents just this year with young people nearly being hit by jet boats.
Last year, Chief and Council instructed Sts’ailes Guardians to post large signs on both sides of the river such that no one entering the lower river could pass by without seeing the signs. However, this did not seem to deter many jet boat operators from passing through the river at high speed.
“After increasingly hostile interactions between intoxicated jet boat operators and concerned Sts’ailes parents (including myself), a few of us have placed a cable across the lower Chehalis River by the posted signs,” Paul said. “The signs and cable are place within our reserve lands, and any jet boats that try to bypass the signs and cable will be in trespass.”
Paul called on the provincial and federal governments as well as well as the public to help protect their children and other swimmers from the few reckless jet boat operators.
The Sts’ailes manages eight recreation sites in the area as well as a network of walking trails along the Chehalis River.