Wooly bully -

The only significant problem I see with flushing boat motors is the damage that some careless boaters cause to a lot of launches. I can't count the number of times I've seen boaters power there boats onto the trailer or flush their motors and see huge plumes of material stirred up behind the boat. Obviously this isn't a problem on launches that are solid concrete or asphalt, but many of the launches on the chehalis and it's tribs aren't. I remember one guy running his sled on the trailer at the south montesano launch and it looked like he was dredging the river (I could just imagine the hole he was creating). There's no excuse for doing this and it costs a lot to repair the damage. Personally I'd rather see boaters launch their sled and run it around in the river enough to flush the motor if possible. From an environmental aspect, I really don't think there would be a problem since saltwater organisms won't last long in fresh water.