Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary will hold a public hearing from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 at the National Seashore's Bear Valley Visitor Center to consider a proposed ban on jet skis in the sanctuary.

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, which has been campaigning for a ban covering Tomales Bay and the rest of the sanctuary, lobbied for 17 months to get the hearing scheduled.

The sanctuary stretches from just south of Stinson Beach to Bodega Bay. It extends 15 miles beyond the Farallon Islands, which are roughly 20 miles offshore of Bolinas.

Ed Ueber, manager of the marine sanctuary, said the hearing will focus on six key issues: location of jet ski launch sites, areas of use, frequency of use in specific places, periods of increased use, evidence of environmental impacts, and evidence of impacts on other sanctuary activities.

So far, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency

that oversees the nation's marine sanctuaries, has received 195 letters from the public on the proposed ban.

Nearly two-thirds of the letters are firmly opposed to any regulation at all. NOAA reports that the "majority" of the opposition has come from owners of personal watercraft.

The remaining one-third of the comments support the ban, and nine of those letters were written by environmental groups, two by civic organizations, and two by kayaking groups.

Curious about the overwhelming stand against regulations, Inverness' Mark Dowie, president of Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, requested a zipcode sort of letters against the proposal.

He found that just two came from West Marin. The bulk of them originated in California's Central Valley.

John Grissim, EAC's executive director, said he's not interested in turning the proposed ban into "a popularity contest." All the same, he said, if the jet ski advocates are going to organize a letter-writing campaign, EAC will too.

The attempted ban in the Gulf of the Farallones is not the first one on the California Coast.

Years ago, the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary cracked down on users of personal motorcraft and had to go to court to defend it, Grissim noted.

Jet skiers were limited to four launch sites off the Santa Cruz and Monterey coasts, but the their advocates have grown dissatisfied with the regulations and have asked that they be loosened, Grissim added.

Written comments on the matter will be accepted until Monday, Oct. 6. Those wanting to send letters can write Ed Ueber, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, Fort Mason, Building 201, San Francisco, 94123.

Comments can also be sent to Elizabeth Moore, Sanctuaries and Reserves Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910.