There was a thread going yesterday about the lack of rubber mats on the Sardis and Butla boat ramps and I also commented about wanting some cleaning stations at Sardis and Butla. I contacted the COE offices at both lakes to find out the best way to make these suggestions and who to contact. Below are the Resource Managers for both lakes and their contact info. I am also attaching a copy of the letter I am emailing to both parties today. For those interested in getting either of these upgrades added, these are the people to contact.

Hopefully if we all let our opinions and suggestions be known, we can get some consideration from them. I would suggest writing your own letters to them and passing the contact info on to anyone else you know who wants the mats or cleaning stations installed at these lakes.

Anyone who wants to use mine as a template, feel free to copy and paste it and add your own arguments for adding these items to our lakes. I think the important thing is for us to get in their ear a little and make our desires known. As the sayiung goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.


Also, if the mods want to sticky this thread, I will post up the reply I get and would encourage others to do the same. We will probably need to keep this going for a while to get results

Thanks,
Rob

Who To Contact:
Arkabutla Lake Resource Manager:
Mr. Mike Carter
Arkabutla Lake
3905 Arkabutla Dam Rd
Coldwater, MS 38618
Phone: 662-562-6261
Fax: 662-562-8972
Email: [email protected]

Sardis Lake Resource Manager:
Mr. Alton Pollan
Sardis Lake Field Office
29049 Hwy 315
Sardis MS 38666-3066
Phone: 662-563-4531
Fax: 662-563-4433
Email: [email protected]


This the letter I am sending to both Lake Resource Managers today:


Sardis Lake Resource Manager: Mr. Alton Pollan
Arkabutla Lake Resource Manager: Mr. Mike Carter
Dear sirs,

This letter is being sent to suggest the addition of the rubber ramp mats or adding floating docks to some of the ramps at Sardis and Arkabutla to make the boat launching process a little easier and faster, and hopefully safer for people and their equipment. A list of reasons for wanting these added is provided below. The rubber mats are present at some of the ramps on Enid and Grenada and there are many who would like to see them added at Sardis and Arkabutla as well.
Another item we would like to ask your consideration on adding is fish cleaning stations. I am unaware of any at Arkabutla and only one on the south side of Sardis, but none on the north side.

Reasons To Add Rubber Boat Mats And/Or Docks:
1 – Helps to prevent Keel damage to boats.
2 – Provides a safe place to tie off your boat while launching or loading.
3 – Helps to diminish wait times and congestion at the ramps because people have a place besides the actual launch ramp to leave their boat while they park or retrieve their tow vehicle.
4 – They (rubber mats, not docks) are present on some ramps at Enid and Grenada, but not on any at Sardis or Arkabutla. As a user of Sardis and Arkabutla, this seems unfair to me. Also, on the TVA lakes I have been on, it is harder to find a public ramp without a dock than it is to find one with a dock. Why doesn’t the COE provide this convenience at their ramps?
5 – With the big emphasis on safety that the COE is making with the Life Vest regs and also some of the new tailrace regs (ie: disallowing boat access directly below the dams), it would seem that adding the rubber mats and docks to your launch sites would be a great way to make the ramps safer for users, as opposed to giving people no option other than to leave their boat in the main launching area or on the riprap, which is the only other option at most water levels on every Sardis and Arkabutla ramp that I know of.
6 – This is better for everyone who uses the lake, not just fishermen. All recreational boaters would benefit from this added service.
7 – Best Reason: We are paying for these ramps, these are not truly public ramps, as every FREE (and generally better improved) TVA ramp I have ever launched at is, by the way.

Reasons To Add Cleaning Stations:
- Admittedly, this is only going to benefit the fishermen, not the recreational boaters. This is a major convenience for the fishermen, who are the primary users of the lake for most of the year and therefore fishermen create the most revenue from launch fees as well.
- Even if there was a small fee with an honor box system to pay for use of cleaning stations, I believe most would gladly pay it. Having said that, I believe that the normal launch fees should cover cleaning stations, at least at some ramps.
- Many people come to these lakes from out of state for vacations, and they spend their money while they are here on camping, restaurants, hotels and myriad other activities. These people, and even local people who are camping would benefit greatly by having the cleaning stations.

Summation:
I believe that these lakes are a tremendous asset, but an asset that we are paying to use nonetheless. These improvements are of moderate cost but they would be of tremendous benefit for the users of the lakes.

Thank you for your consideration.