A truck crosses the Chetco River near Loeb State Park last summer. It stalled out a few seconds later and had to be towed out by another vehicle. Pilot file photo

“At this point, you can have a monster truck race up and down the river,” said John Minoletti, a member of the Chetco River Watershed Council. The non-profit organization made the request to the Oregon Department of State Lands.

Minoletti said the worst problem exists near Loeb State Park.

The rule proposed by the council says, “The driving in, across, or through, the wetted channel of the river by motorized vehicles for recreation purposes is prohibited.”

State Lands Department spokeswoman Julie Curtis said the agency’s State Land Board voted Tuesday to authorize the department to proceed with a possible rule change.

“This gives us the authority to do rule-making,” she said of the vote, adding the board did not recommend for or against the proposed rule in its decision.

The proposal will be the subject of future public hearings in Brookings, she said, before going to the State Land Board for a final decision.

Curtis said no date for a public hearing has been set, but the entire process is expected to last for months.

The watershed council sent a letter to Oregon Department of State Lands Director Louise Solliday on Oct. 16. The letter said restrictions are needed because “... driving recreational vehicles,   automobiles, and trucks in, across, and through the Chetco River, poses a significant risk of harm and damage to the natural resources of the land and to the public.”

The letter noted the river’s water quality was found by the federal government to have “outstandingly remarkable values.” That distinction  was based on the Chetco’s “... striking color and clarity, its ability to clear quickly following storm events, its contribution to both recreation and fisheries, and its contribution of exceptionally pure and clean water for the domestic  water supplies of both Brookings and Harbor.”

The watershed council cited studies by the Harbor Water Public Utility District and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality that say  the river can be adversely affected  by small amounts of pollutants.

“In some cases, a gallon or less (of a toxic substance) can significantly impact aquifers,” the letter said. “in addition, there is a significant risk presented in the form of smaller amounts of dangerous and polluting chemicals and substances, including asbestos from brake linings, and copper.

“Driving vehicles through the river obviously poses a significant risk of harm and damage to the public.”

Besides introducing toxic substances into the water, the council wrote, vehicles crossing the river have limited control and pose a threat to swimmers, especially children.

Often, drivers of the vehicles have been drinking alcohol, the council wrote.

There would be some exceptions if the proposed rule were adopted. Those include government-owned vehicles on official business, motor or non-motorized boats, vehicles used in the launching of boats, public and private utility vehicles performing company business, and vehicles operating in activities under permit, vehicles involved in rescue or emergency activities, and permitted vehicles engaged in repair of fences and placement of bank protection material.

Meanwhile, a member of the State Land Board is considering writing a bill for introduction during the 2012 or 2013 sessions of the Legislature that would address the issue of vehicles in state waterways on a statewide basis.