Spring moisture and rising reservoir levels are balancing out high gas prices, which some say could have discouraged people from camping and boating this summer.

"I think improved water levels will be more of a positive factor than the high gas prices are a negative factor," said state Game, Fish & Parks Department parks director Doug Hofer of Pierre.

Gas prices are nearing $4 per gallon, but heavy rains have filled up Belle Fourche Reservoir, and Angostura and Pactola reservoirs continue to get closer to capacity.

Hofer said camping and summer lodging reservations are up about 15 percent across the state through May. He said gas prices aren't keeping people away from the state parks so far, and he hopes it stays that way.

"It looks like we're going to have a really good year," Hofer said. "We're optimistic that it's not going to have a negative impact."

Larry Job, the owner of Black Hawk Marine, said his business prospects were looking to be subpar this year before the rains hit and the reservoirs began to rise.

"The water level definitely has perked everybody's spirits in the last three weeks," he said. "There's a total different attitude with people coming into my store."

Job said the gas prices would have likely kept his sales down if the rain wouldn't have come.

"Without the rain, there's no doubt it would have been a lot slower," he said.

Job does think the recreation habits of Black Hills residents and visitors will change slightly with the change in gas prices, however.

Job, who sells mainly fishing boats, said many of the fishermen he has talked with are taking fewer but longer trips, so that they don't have to spend as much money on travel.

Hofer said that trend seems to be showing in state park reservations.

"They might make one less trip during the year but they tend to stay longer when they get there," he said. "That's probably the main reason that our volume of nights is up."

Greg Hyde, sales manager at Four Seasons Sports Center in Rapid City, said his business is having its best spring in eight years. He said customers seemed to be in the boat-buying mood as far back as February, and the rising water levels have only encouraged people further.

"I do think that's helping," he said. "There's just a lot of people that want to start boating again."

Hyde doesn't think that the high gas prices have affected people's recreation habits.

Pactola Reservoir is currently up about two feet from what it was at this time last year, according to Pactola Marina owner Dave Fisher.

Last week, Fisher was working on putting in an extra piece of dock to enable people to reach the pontoon rental dock on the south side of the reservoir.

Fisher's not complaining.

"We'll take rain any day," Fisher said.

The lake has already exceeded the high water mark for 2007, and he hopes it will exceed the 2006 level. Fisher said that having nice weather for boaters is a bigger factor than gas prices.

Also, he said the water levels will help.

"I think the water levels will offset gas prices," he said.

Rachel Sauerman, who lives near Pactola Reservoir, said gas prices had not affected her recreational habits. Sauerman was fishing at Pactola in a small boat last week. But she said she could see how the prices could affect people with big boats that use more gas.

As of Monday afternoon, Belle Fourche Reservoir was over its normal capacity. Pactola was 68 percent full, Angostura was 70 percent full and Deerfield was at 84 percent of capacity, according to the Bureau of Reclamation's Web site at http://www.usbr.gov/gp/lakes_reservoirs/south_dakota_lakes.htm.

Hofer said reservations at Rocky Point Recreation Area at Belle Fourche Reservoir and at Custer State Park are running ahead of last year. Numbers at Angostura are slightly down, but Hofer expects them to pick up as the reservoir continues to fill up. All of the boat ramps are currently operational, he said.

Hofer said the improvements in camping amenities at Custer State Park and Rocky Point could be another reason reservation levels are up.

"Locally, I think you're going to see more use, more visitation in those areas than they've seen in several years," he said.

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com