Houseboat Culture Fades; States Tighten Regulations On Mooring

TICHNOR, Ark. - Rocking back and forth on the ripples of the White River, Bobby Wade's wood-planked houseboat is tired, splintered and faded - much like the disappearing culture of houseboat dwellers.

A third-generation fisherman, Wade and his wife, Linda, have lived on the boat eight years. They depend on it for shelter. They depend on catfish for a living. And now they're depending on the state to let them to continue their way of life.

"We don't make any big-time living, but we stay off of welfare," Wade says. "The only way we can survive is to be on the river. But river people like us, we're a dying breed."

Several states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, are tightening rules on houseboats and where they can moor.

Arkansas officials have given Wade and 27 other houseboat owners in the Arkansas Delta until September 24 to move their boats. It says the houseboats are tied up to private land and are polluting the rivers.

The mandate puts many of the boat owners in a bind - unless they are willing to pay for marina space or rent land from private companies.

"The issue with the houseboat owners is them owning attachments on private property," says Larry Mallard, manager of the White River National Wildlife Refuge, owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"It's like someone setting up a tent in my yard," he says. "Legally, we are doing what we are mandated to do."

In 1992, the Audubon Society sued the Department of Interior, saying houseboats were occupying waters acquired as habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. The lawsuit said many of the houseboats on the White River in Arkansas were moored in wildlife refuges.

Wade wants to be left alone, and says he can't afford to battle the state or Fish and Wildlife Service.

"It's not like this is a weekend getaway," he says. "We work hard. We don't bother anyone. And we don't pollute the river."

A proposed trail

Wade's houseboat is moored to land owned by the Department of Parks and Tourism - land slated for a proposed 70-mile recreation trail.

"The proposed trail runs through some of the state's last remaining hardwoods and wetlands in Arkansas," said Greg Butts, Arkansas' director of state parks. "We wanted to set some policies in place that would be in the best interest of the state parks and its users."

Wade says he hopes to move his houseboat to land owned by a timber company. If that doesn't work, he plans to fight the state.

At one time, houseboat dwellers dotted the shores of many Arkansas waterways. But many property owners in Arkansas, as well as in other areas around the country, complained that houseboat owners didn't pay property taxes but still used such services as schools. Criticism doubled when the environmental movement gained momentum.

Five years ago, Georgia passed two laws that regulated houseboats on navigable water. If the houseboats met sanitation and safety standards, they were given a five-year permit to stay on waterways - permits that expired June 30, says Homer Bryson, a conservation officer with Georgia's Department of Natural Resources.

"We permitted 109 houseboats," Bryson says. "Out of those 109, there are 46 remaining and about 20 are suing the department for the right to stay. Some are tied to state property. Some are tied to private property. A good many are tied to land owned by timber companies."

150-year-old tradition

Most of the boats are on the Altamaha River, in the southeastern part of the state. Some are 30 years old and deteriorating, Bryson said.

"People have enjoyed living on these waters for more than 150 years," says Bob Smith, an attorney representing more than 30 houseboat owners in the lawsuit. "If the issue is about pollution, it would take houseboat owners 20 years to generate the amount of pollution that industries pump into the water in one day. But we haven't kicked them off, have we?"

In Florida, few unmotorized houseboats are allowed to dock at marinas. And most owners have to pay for moorings if they're offshore, says Chuck Willard of The Waterway Times, a South Florida monthly magazine on boating.

"Houseboats are almost nonexistent here," says Willard, a self-described river-rat living in Fort Lauderdale. "Boat people are looked down upon - as people who don't pay taxes, as people who are one step above homeless people."

Many houseboats have been grandfathered in under old zoning laws. But it is difficult to get permits for new ones.

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Mike Williams, the education coordinator for South Carolina's Department of Natural Resources, says complaints in his state deal mostly with sanitation.

Linda Wade said she and her husband keep the White River cleaner than others.

"You have to respect the river," she says, holding up syringes and other trash she says she has pulled from the river. "The tug boats pollute this river. Companies pollute this river. We depend on it being clean."

She says the area has always had a bounty of wildlife. "My grandchildren can see bear, coyotes and other animals here they could normally only see in zoos or books," she says. "But by coming here, they have learned a greater respect for the water. They have learned that being on the water means life."