Comment from Steven Burak

Dear Mr. Anderson, Well, here we are on the last day for public comment. I had hoped to get these issues resolved early on in the process. With everyone's busy schedules and all of the meetings it seems like things don't happen. In regard to the water closures in Idaho it looks like someone has made it their opinion that landing airplanes on water is dangerous. Early on we had voiced the fact that one person's opinion does not make it reality. We had also agreed that prior to your ruling, permission to land was not required. Therefore the burden given to us to prove that we had been given permission to land on a body of water was null and void. In my conversation with Chris the other day, he brought that back up. I thought we were past that. The documents that you have provided us with specifically talk about having to have a procedure to close any waters. There is a second document that closed the waters without any procedure. So by closing those waters to seaplane landings, again, whoever made this decision has singled aircraft out and decided that they are dangerous. My opinion is that the water should be closed to boats since they create a danger. Someone could fall out of the boat and drown, or run into another boat, or forget to put the plug in and sink, or even run into an airplane. Now that opinion of mine is just as absurd as the opinion that it is unsafe for us to land float planes on bodies of water in Idaho that you have deemed closed. The Federal Aviation Administration has already regulated how I am to operate an airplane. I spent a lot of time and money earning the privilege to be able to fly. The Coast Guard has already regulated how we are to operate an airplane on water. At what point do you feel responsible to intervene with those agencies’ rules and regulations and tell us how you think we should operate our aircraft? If those waters are closed to aircraft landings I would ask that we get quantification and documentation and a process to do so. I would also like to know what facts you have that say this is unsafe, and I would also like to see where in the FAA rules it is stated that aircraft landings on water are unsafe. The FAA regulates flying – not the BOR. What about the Coast Guard’s regulations? Let me know where it shows in their rules that what we are doing is unsafe. My biggest point is that the people making these decisions can probably operate a boat and think that it’s OK for them to use these waters. Well, those of us who operate an airplane also think it’s OK for us to use those waters. We should not be discriminated against and not be able to enjoy the same waters as watercraft. I think you guys should do as you agreed - which is reverse the decision to close the waters in the western states and revert back to the status prior to the BOR taking on the responsibility of law enforcement. We should be able to operate our airplanes within the guidelines already set out for us by the FAA and Coast Guard. Steven W. Burak Emmett, ID 83617 208-861-9055