Lane County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol deputies are warning boaters about an obstruction on the McKenzie River approximately halfway between Bellinger Landing and Hayden Bridge Boat Landing. A full-sized cottonwood tree, shown below, is spanning the entire width of the river preventing boaters from safely navigating that section of the river. Marine Patrol deputies were out with chainsaws today working on the obstruction but the area is still not passable. The obstruction is being reported to the Oregon State Marine Board, and at this time we are asking boaters to avoid the area between Bellinger Landing and Hayden Bridge Boat Landing.
We encourage everyone floating the rivers to scout out the area they plan to float ahead of time and check the Oregon State Marine Board’s (OSMB) website for recently reported obstructions.
Boaters can view a list of reported obstructions on the Oregon State Marine Board website by visiting https://www.oregon.gov/osmb/Pages/Reported-Obstructions-Alerts.aspx
**Only obstructions that have been reported to OSMB will appear on the site.