At approximately 1130 hours on July 7, 2009, I, Warden, was at Campers Point Bay, Tongue River Reservoir State Park in Big Horn County, MT.  I was off duty and at the boat launch when a boater pulled up to the dock and said a skier had hit them.  This individual was later found to be Primary Boat Operator (PBO) #2.  I then went to my residence at the State Park and grabbed my enforcement gear and vehicle.  I immediately radioed Big Horn County Dispatch and notified them of the boat accident.
	By the time I was back to the Marina area, the other boat involved had arrived.  I immediately began making sure that all the occupants were ok and safe.  I found that two of the children had possible injuries along with one adult male.  I then requested emergency medical assistance through Big Horn County for those people.  Following all this I began my accident investigation.
	Through talking to the individuals operating the boats, and also from statements made by passengers, I could ascertain the following facts:

•	The accident occurred near the mouth of Neck Bay on Tongue River Reservoir.
•	The accident occurred at approximately 1115 hours on 07/07/2009.
•	The driver of the boat pulling inner tubes (we’ll now refer to as boat number1) was PBO #1.
•	The driver of the fishing boat (we’ll now refer to as boat number 2) was PBO #2.
•	Boat number 1 collided with boat number 2.
•	Both boats were traveling at planed out speeds immediately preceding the collision.

Both parties insisted that the accident was the others fault.  During my interviews
it became apparent that neither party saw the collision coming until 1 or 2 seconds before it actually happened.  PBO #1 was able to tell me where they had traveled and that they had seen boat number 2 prior to collision but had lost sight of the vessel.  PBO #2 stated that he never saw boat number 1 until immediately before the two boats collided.  PBO #2 verified PBO #1 information about where his boat had been, and to a point, where it had traveled following their fishing activity.

	PBO #2 stated that he turned toward the shore and was beginning to slow down when he saw boat 1 rapidly approaching.  He admitted that he did not look before turning.   PBO #1l stated that he was watching the inner tubers he was towing (he demonstrated by looking over his right shoulder) and that he turned back around to see boat number 2 passing in front of him.  PBO #1 described that he immediately pulled the throttle of boat number 1 back, but the collision occurred before it had effectively slowed.  In the collision, boat 1 sustained damage to the bow (front) area of the boat and primarily to the port (left as viewed from the boats steering wheel) side.  Boat 2 sustained damage along the majority of the starboard (right) side and it appeared that the actual impact occurred toward the aft (rear) of the boat, directly behind the operators seat.  From the damage to the two boats, it appeared that the two boats were traveling nearly perpendicular to each other at impact.
	If the two boats were traveling as the evidence I could perceive suggested, Boat 1 would have had right of way in this instance.  For this reason I cited PBO #2 for failure to yield right-of-way.  For PBO #1 apparent inattention resulting in major damage to property and potential risk of serious bodily to him and others, he was cited with negligent operation.
Decker                        