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seawallrunner
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 12:12 pm 
Very interesting court case about transportation access to Lake Chelan. 15 minute video. Ramifications of this law begin at 13:00 minutes

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Slugman
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 12:53 pm 
I have no idea if they will be successful. But I do not like the reasoning. Basically it comes down to “but I really WANT to”. Lobby to change the law, or convince the state it is in the public interest. Poor guy, had to leave Seattle at 4:30 in the morning. I notice they never once mention how others on the lake feel about their scheme. I’ll venture a guess they don’t like it. This is an attempt to destroy the rights of the people to limit commercial activity. Maybe the brothers should have opened a business in an accessible location. This is clearly a political topic, but also a land stewardship issue, so I think it is OK to be on the forum, but should be in Public Land Stewardship.

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CC
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CC
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 3:07 pm 
How old is this video, it looks like they already have their ferry. https://www.stehekinferry.com/about Since we (tax payers, Chelan PUD owners) already subsidize Stehekin business owners, I'm actually surprised they didn't ask government to provide the ferry.

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treeswarper
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 3:22 pm 
Slugman wrote:
I have no idea if they will be successful. But I do not like the reasoning. Basically it comes down to “but I really WANT to”. Lobby to change the law, or convince the state it is in the public interest. Poor guy, had to leave Seattle at 4:30 in the morning. I notice they never once mention how others on the lake feel about their scheme. I’ll venture a guess they don’t like it. This is an attempt to destroy the rights of the people to limit commercial activity. Maybe the brothers should have opened a business in an accessible location. This is clearly a political topic, but also a land stewardship issue, so I think it is OK to be on the forum, but should be in Public Land Stewardship.
I'm watching my way through the video, but one thing that pops up is that the Courtneys lived in the area prior to the existence of the park and recreation area. The local population was mostly against turning the area into a park. Courtney's and not sure, Millers? had a business running horse packing trips in the Stehekin back country before the park existed. There's a bit of history there.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Schroder
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 4:48 pm 
This is an interesting case & will have impacts beyond just Lake Chelan but also to the ferry system on Puget Sound. The only private ferry's have been the Black Ball from Port Angeles to Victoria and the Victoria Clipper and they've been allowed under the law because they cross an international border. I've only been on the Stehekin Ferry twice in the past 10 years and one of those times it broke down coming back to Chelan. It's an old boat and the crew didn't seem very competent. Without any competition they don't really need to care.

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Seventy2002
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 8:48 pm 
CC wrote:
How old is this video, it looks like they already have their ferry.
Posted Dec 29, 2020. The Utilities and Transportation Commission granted the Courtneys a "Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Operate Vessels in Furnishing Passenger Ferry Service " in May, 2019. Looks like the ferry started running in May 2020.

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jinx'sboy
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PostSat Jan 02, 2021 10:00 pm 
I watched part of the video....and also thought they had started running this summer. Sure enough: https://www.stehekinferry.com/about Looking at the schedule - they make it from Fields Point to Stehekin in 1.45 hours. The’old’ Lake Chelan Ferry is about the same time, but slightly higher price. Looks like a win for customers.

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Anne Elk
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PostSun Jan 03, 2021 2:16 am 
What's confusing is I don't understand why the state is/was claiming sole jurisdiction in the matter when so much of the lake is within Federal lands - probably over 50%, right?

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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altasnob
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PostSun Jan 03, 2021 4:03 pm 
Anne Elk wrote:
What's confusing is I don't understand why the state is/was claiming sole jurisdiction in the matter when so much of the lake is within Federal lands - probably over 50%, right?
From the 9th Circuit decision ruling against the Courtney's, "[h]istorically, states—not the federal government—regulated ferry franchises with the power to exclude a franchisee’s potential competitors from the market. An intrastate ferry franchise is a property right, and rights of commerce give no authority to their possessor to invade the rights of property.” As others have pointed out, the Courtney's have already got what they want and the second ferry is now operating. So why is the case still pending in the US Supreme Court? I noticed Courtney's are represented by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm. It also appears the other Chelan ferry, The Lake Chelan Boat Company, is also owned by a Courtney. Not sure it is all one giant company now or separate. Sounds like most people living in Stehiken are a Courtney.

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Cyclopath
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PostSun Jan 03, 2021 4:37 pm 
I tried to watch the video but it was too smarmy and I couldn't take more than about a minute of it.

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Anne Elk
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PostSun Jan 03, 2021 4:57 pm 
Thanks for the clarification, Altasnob, but it raises more questions. What makes ferries so different than other forms of water commerce? Like whale-watching tours, tourist fishing operations, etc? Sounds like the state had the right to regulate ferries the way (historically) cities regulated taxi companies. I don't see the public benefit. The Courtney family goes way back. I first heard of them shortly after arriving in Seattle: there was an essay/remembrance of Ray Courtney in a now-defunct local magazine - he'd been killed in a trail-riding mishap. The Courtneys were smart to start-up another biz to support their outfitting and the Stehekin community; sounds like the condition and schedule of the Lady of the Lake sure wasn't. It was taking a huge risk - the old saying about boats being holes in the water you pour $$ into, is sure true. Good on them for stepping up.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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treeswarper
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PostSun Jan 03, 2021 8:13 pm 
I seem to recall that the Chelan Boat company sold recently? Anyway, the Lady of the Lake in some form, has been ongoing for eons. During my kidhood, we went up to Chelan almost every weekend in the summer. Mom was from there and had family there. We would swim at Lakeside and the highlight of the day was paddling out on your air mattress or tube to ride the wake of the Lady of the Lake back to shore. I've never heard complaints about the service. I rode it up and back one time just for the heck of it. The same company would haul a barge up the lake when something big had to be delivered. Of course, the service is cut back in the winter. People in a hurry have the option of a float plane service to use. Another long time dispute is also over. The fill dumped in the lake to make a couple of waterfront building sites which was done in the 1960s has finally been approved and I imagine a couple of mansions will soon block the view of the lake in that place. It's yet another unaffordable place for most of us. Prior to the park and the wilderness act, they used to have some pretty large pack trips out of Stehekin. The Wenatchee World would have a ride every summer and do a big write up on it.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Stefan
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PostMon Jan 04, 2021 4:33 pm 
Don't the Courtneys have the opportunity to petition for a license every so or few years for a "concession" like service? If there is ONE concession, there does need to be some type of "competitive bid" every few years for operation. How does the Channel Islands (also a National Park) with a waterway operate on a concession basis?

Art is an adventure.
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treeswarper
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PostMon Jan 04, 2021 4:52 pm 
Don't forget about the Apostle Islands.. They have boats that drop off folks.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Sculpin
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PostTue Jan 05, 2021 9:03 am 
I suspect there are folks in Stehekin who lack the ability (read: a motor boat) to get to Chelan on their own. This means that they depend upon ferry service for food and medicine. Because of this, I think the ferry is considered part of the state transportation system, with an obligation to provide service under all circumstances. That is so folks in Stehekin won't starve if private ferry workers go on strike for six months. I tried to find confirmation of this on the net but came up empty. I watched the entire video; I wish they had been a little more forthcoming on the rationale given by the courts for dismissing the lower-level cases that hinged on the ability of the state to regulate ferry competition, but instead they spent a lot of time just repeating the same aspects of their own case.

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