Motorboat use on the Main Salmon River: Data from a study for the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness

This publication contains data from a two-phase 1998-1999 study in the Frank Church Wilderness which surveyed visitors about the use of motorboats and jet boats on the Salmon River. This study was done in coordination with the Western Whitewater Association (WWA) and Northwest River Runners (NRR), which are jet boat organizations based in Boise and Lewiston, ID, respectively. Information was gathered regarding visitor demographics and opinions on river use. Phase I included interviews with six leadership members of the WWA. Included in this data publication are notes from two of those interviews and excerpts from all six interviews. Phase II included sending surveys to jet boat users. Data include the results of these mailback surveys. Follow-up telephone surveys were conducted if the mailback surveys were not returned and those results have also been included.
This study was designed to increase knowledge about jet boat use and users on the Main Salmon for consideration when developing the final version of the Environmental Impact Statement for the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Forest Plan Amendment. While we learned from the legislative history that one purpose of protecting jet boat access was to allow people to “see and enjoy this splendid wilderness” there was a need to further understand how jet boat users enjoy this place and this method of access to it. Some of the knowledge generated from a qualitative study of jet boaters (discussed under Methods) yielded hypotheses to be tested in a quantitative study. This study focused on developing information comparable to what we have for other river user groups, increasing our knowledge base about how management actions are likely to affect jet boat use of the Salmon River, and understanding the relationship between jet boaters, the activity, and the place.
Original metadata date was 08/14/2017. On 06/29/2020 metadata was updated to correct author misspelling, and other minor updates were made.