Mike Satren's recent "My Turn" column regarding the Third Street boat launch controversy has inspired me to finally write this letter. It has been long coming. I have watched as one plan after another to replace the launch has been formed, considered and discarded. Each of these schemes has served to placate the public long enough to allow the McEuen re-shaping plan to steamroll along.

Like Mike, I do not keep a boat anchored in a slip on the lake. I am a launch and retrieve user who only boats this lake during the waterfowl season, when the big yachts have long been wrapped in plastic and dock awnings put away for the winter. Over the course of these hard weather months, I see a surprising amount of people launch from Third Street to either fish or hunt. These traditions are part of the fabric and charm of this community. We have no more lumber mills or tugboats. I get it ... times change. But can we keep just a bit of the historic feel, tradition and lifestyle that have made this area so great?

I was quite irritated when viewing the launch usage statistics on the old McEuen site (which has been taken down since the project is now inevitable). Someone was either misinformed or was downright lying with the numbers that were presented. I have seen more boats launch on a December day than the statistics given for the entire month. If decisions were made on this information, they were deeply flawed.

None of the "replacement launch" options that have come and gone would, in my opinion and experience, serve as well as the Third Street launch, with its year round capabilities and sheltered harbor. Would these new launches be plowed? Would launching be possible at winter lake pool levels? Would launching be safe (as Mike questioned) in ripping winds? Yes, people do in fact launch boats at times like this. Very few of Lake Coeur d'Alene's many boat launches remain open and functioning in the dead of winter, limiting our options.

The latest proposal to move boat trailer parking verges on the ridiculous. Launch your boat and walk blocks to park your trailer? We are obviously not trying to make things easy for the boating public. I am not even sure of what the current plan is. It changes so frequently. But if we end up with no options to park next to the launch Mr. Satren's prediction of clogged docks at the peak of the summer season is going to come true. Since the beginning of all this McEuen/boat launch relocation talk, I have had an uneasy feeling in my gut that guys like me and all other day use boaters would end up on the short end of the stick. It does not matter if one intends to launch in summer or winter; I feel, with heavy heart, that things are going to get much, much worse for all of us.

Thanks, Mike, for giving me the courage to speak my mind.

Gil Rossner is a Hayden resident.