On April 9, 2000 the following letter went out to all 200-plus members of the NYBA, the media, the Washington State Senators and Representative and Commissioner Jennifer Belcher.

Governor Gary Locke
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, Washington 98504

Dear Governor Locke:

As officers of the NORTHWEST YACHT BROKERS ASSOCIATION, a trade association representing over 200 of the area's yacht brokers and dealers, we must raise our voices in objection to the current efforts of Jennifer Belcher and the Department of Natural Resources to prohibit liveaboard boaters from DNR-leased slips in our state's private marinas. This assault by DNR on liveaboard boaters is without foundation in state law, overlooks the numerous positive benefits provided by liveaboards, threatens the lifestyle and housing options of thousands of families, and begins to threaten the fragile marine industry.

Liveaboards, of course, aren't prohibited by any state law. Instead, this recent action is based on DNR's reinterpretation of the 1984 Aquatic Land Management Act. At the time, the intent of the bill was to prohibit development of commercial properties -such as apartments, condominiums and hotels - from being built out over the state tidelands. Liveaboards were never mentioned in the original legislation or its accompanying interpretation. The reason, quite simply, was the legislation was never intended to ban people from living aboard their boats. Only years later, did DNR reinterpret the 1984 bill to include a prohibition on liveaboards in a deliberate attempt to further some new, private agenda.

DNR's proclaimed purpose of evicting liveaboards to preserve public access and recreational opportunities is disingenuous at best. A boat will still reside in that slip, a boat will still be moored over public property. There will be no additional public access, there are no additional recreational opportunities. When Ms. Belcher declared, "the state has long had a policy that you don't allow residential use on public property" she, of course, overlooked the century-long precedent of people living aboard their boats over the state tidelands; and she conveniently ignored the many, many examples of private housing on public land currently taking place in the state. Must the University of Washington and other state public universities prohibit all on-campus housing? How about all the housing already allowed at state parks, and other lands held in the public trust?

One DNR representative said that living aboard a boat is no different than a person pulling an RV into a state park and living there. Of course, there is a big difference, one never mentioned in DNR's spin on this policy issue. State property over the water is leased to private businesses such as marinas for private commercial purposes. Now DNR is placing limitations on how that private enterprise may conduct business. Does the state have the legal authority to dictate terms and conditions on how people use their boats? If DNR can prohibit liveaboards, can it also decide that no one can use their boats more than three days a week or a person can't stay on his or her boat for a month in the summer? Once the state begins dictating terms and conditions on how people may use their boats, where does it stop? DNR is prohibiting a business activity that has been a vital part of boating activity in this region for over a century. At the same time, DNR is asking for increased fees for water rights and simultaneously prohibiting a significant segment of the way in which a marina owner raises such fees.

And living aboard a boat is another example of the variety of lifestyle that makes the Pacific Northwest such a great place to live. It is a community rich in diversity, reflective of the most cherished values of our society. In the Seattle area alone, thousands of folks from nearly every profession permanently occupy a dizzying array of boats. Doctors, architects and lawyers - as well as nurses, engineers, mechanics, retirees and writers - live on large and small sailboats, and every kind of power boat imaginable. These people are at the center of our social structure, they make up the core of our region's economic vitality. They have just chosen something a little different for their housing requirements. They have decided to integrate their passion for boating more fully into a lifestyle.

In fact, in a time of increased environmental awareness, living aboard a boat is something that should be encouraged and promoted, not outlawed. A liveaboard, occupying a footprint of roughly 600 square feet of space, uses 10 percent of the water of an average household, and 20 percent of the electricity. Liveaboards have a self-contained sewage system, and monitor the water daily, clean up floating debris, are the first to report oil slicks and keep a vigilant eye out for polluters. In fact, liveaboards have long been the region's best environmental stewards of the water. They have been proactive in providing solutions to environmental problems caused by all boaters. Liveaboards developed and promoted the New Moon Project, a public-service project which installed for free portable sewage pumpout units throughout the region and were made available free to all boaters; this nationally recognized project was later replicated in Galveston Bay, Texas, and San Francisco Bay, California as a model of environmental responsibility. Liveaboards researched and wrote the book SOUNDWATCH: An Environmental Guide For Boaters, and helped the publisher, 48o North, distribute over 75,000 copies of the free guide.

Liveaboards also provide an essential service to the marinas leasing the State tidelands. They provide the front line of protection in the marinas. With millions of dollars of personal property floating unprotected and unguarded in most marinas, liveaboards are the first line of security. They deter intruders and report fires. They keep boats from sinking, they note suspicious activities around the docks and they protect boats, marinas and the water from winter storms.

The marine industry is big business in the State of Washington, comparable to the acclaimed apple industry from the east side of the Cascades. Selling boats to liveaboards is a significant percentage of the business of all yacht brokers. One small brokerage house tallied the total sales from 1999 and discovered that 25 percent of his boat sales were to liveaboards. The sales to liveaboards generated over $66,000 in sales tax to the State of Washington. And this is just the total for one small company.

Liveaboards then rent slips, purchase equipment and gear, and support local businesses. Liveaboards contribute millions and millions of dollars to local and state economies. The popularity of boating in the Northwest is reflected in the positive impact it has on the state's economy. Nearly a thousand small companies making up the marine trade industry, generate $2 billion for the state's economy annually, and offer close to twenty thousand state residents ongoing good-paying employment opportunities. In an industry made up of a lot of small businesses with small margins, DNR's liveaboard policy will have a devastating impact throughout the marine industry and on the industry's contribution to the state economy.

The immediate concern is where do these 30 families evicted from their Lake Union boats now go? Moorage is already in short supply; most marinas have no capacity to accommodate these displaced liveaboards. The longer term question is, where do the 3,000 liveaboard families (according to the statewide projects from the Washington Liveaboard Association) go if DNR is successful in banning all liveaboards from Washington State? If thousands of people were evicted from their homes so the State could turn over the property to a private company to have a parking lot (in this case, it's just a parking lot for boats), the public outrage would be deafening in Olympia. As it should be now for the liveaboards.

DNR has stated it wants to evict thousands of people from their homes, it threatens a long and cherished lifestyle in Western Washington, it wants to make it more difficult for a marina owner to be able to meet the terms of his lease, and the agency threatens a valuable state industry. Since we can find no precedent in law, we can only assume that this action against the liveaboard community is personal in nature. We shall encourage our 200 association members, other marine-related organizations, the entire marine industry and all boaters to support the efforts of the liveaboards working to stop this unwarranted attack on a lifestyle. We shall also encourage and participate in any political action against those who support the continued implementation of this policy.

All of us with the NORTHWEST YACHT BROKERS ASSOCIATION look forward to your immediate action on this issue.