Hoping to force state and federal agencies to require permits on the lower Deschutes River, a Portland resident and two nonprofit rafting organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday.

The suit names the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Interior Department chief Gale Norton, and Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department director Mike Carrier, said Bart Brush, attorney for the plaintiffs.

Specifically, the suit charges that the federal and state agencies failed to represent the public’s best interest by not requiring a limited permit system on the popular recreational stretch of the river, Brush said.

A 1993 agreement between the BLM, State Parks and six other agencies involved in managing the lower Deschutes said officials would require permits under a ”common pool” if more people floated the river than are allowed under target use levels.

In recent years, those levels have been exceeded, but officials have not required a permit system. The common pool creates a certain number of permits for all users – commercial outfitters and general public alike. By contrast, split allocation permit systems have different permits available for guides and for the general public.

”It is a pretty straightforward claim,” Brush said of the lawsuit.

”The use figures have clearly been exceeded and the plan calls for use restrictions on the river for everyone’s benefit.”

Plaintiffs Mark Shuholm, the Northwest Rafters Association and the National Organization of Rafters filed a similar lawsuit against the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department in February in Marion County Circuit Court.

Brush said the state may choose to remain in that court or could join with the BLM in federal court. Originally, the plaintiffs believed the state was the main agency holding up implementation of the plan.

However, in recent months more information has surfaced that shows the burden of implementation also belongs to the BLM, Brush said.

Elevating the case to federal court also opens the door for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs to intervene on behalf of the plaintiffs, Brush said. The tribal reservation borders a segment of the lower Deschutes. Since 1993, the tribes have supported requiring permits in order to limit use on the river.

Jim Noteboom, attorney for the tribes, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Central Oregon guides and outfitters staunchly oppose the common pool system. They say it will make it impossible to plan ahead because they will never know exactly how many permits are available to them.

By Friday afternoon, officials from the BLM had not seen the lawsuit, so they said they could not comment on it.

However, plaintiff Shuholm said that he filed the lawsuit because he believes permits should be required on the lower Deschutes. However, he wants there to be equal access to permits for outfitters and the public.

”I personally don’t have anything against the guides and outfitters,” Shuholm said. ”I have hired them in the past and will hire them in the future. They are needed … but they should not have the power to control access along the Deschutes River.”

Some rivers, such as the Colorado which runs through the Grand Canyon, have split allocation permit systems under which guides have the majority of permits. That means the general public can wait for years for an opportunity to get a permit, while guides have guaranteed permits each summer, Shuholm said.

Rachel Odell can be reached at 541-617-7811 or rodell@bendbulletin.com