By Guy Page
A bill introduced Wendesday would allow towns to prohibit “wake” power boats on clear, pristine “oligotrophic” lakes.
H64 would “allow the municipality or municipalities surrounding an oligotrophic lake to prohibit the use of wake boats.” It’s sponsored by Rep. Katherine Sims, Katherine “Kari” Dolan, Tristan Roberts, Lawrence Satcowitz, Amy Sheldon, and Joseph “Chip” Troiano, and Democrats or Democrat/Progressives. It was sent to the Transportation Committee.
Wake boats are high performance power boats pulling wake boarders.
Oligotrophic lakes are most common in cold, sparsely developed regions that are underlain by crystalline igneous, granitic bedrock. Due to their low algal production, these lakes consequently have very clear waters, with high drinking-water quality.
Shadow Lake in Glover, Lake Willoughby in Westmore, Lake Caspian in Greensboro and Lake Seymour in Morgan are among the estimated 20 oligotrophic lakes in Vermont. Lake George, in New York, is also oligotrophic.
Support for protecting olitrophic lakes was summarized in the closing paragraph of a 2018 report by the Department of Environmental Conservation: “These low-nutrient, crystal-clear lakes are the jewels of Vermont – especially prized for their natural beauty and recreational opportunities. It would be a shame to lose them.”
Categories: Outdoors
Has anyone consulted with Sarah George on this? She is the self-appointed arbiter of watersports rules.
Silly season is upon us.
Would wake boarding, the reason to have a wake boat be a recreational opportunity?
Come to think of it, is Great Hosmer Pond an oligotrophic lake? ms. sarah george might not be able to waterski unless she purchased a “woke” boat. I do so hope the sponsors of H64 cleared this bill with state’s atty george…
Seems reasonable and doable
As opposed to corporately controlled massive wind 💨 turbines…
Wake boats are destructive and impair the ability of those who kayak, canoe or sail to use that body of water. They don’t belong on our ponds, reservoirs or small lakes. And I don’t care if it offends those who always want to do whatever they want without having regard for others.
They certainly can be obnoxious to paddlers, like any motor boat, but one big concern not mentioned in the article is that wake boats take on water into a ballast tank to lower the stern, and that makes them more likely to transfer invasives between bodies of water.
“Wake boats” will be very quickly become “electric motors only boats” even though the new 4 stroke motors now emit fewer emissions than past motors. In addition, existing 2-stroke motor boats, that the majority of regular middle class families have held on to for many years (because average family can’t afford alternatives) and use to enjoy our culture of outdoor life, should be grandfathered because their registrations and fishing licenses actually PAY for the clean waters AS OPPOSED TO “No wake boats”; CANOES AND KAYAKS!! Remember, Vermont does NOT REQUIRE NON-MOTORIZED (“NO-WAKE BOATS”) TO BE REGISTERED even though they can block the fishing accesses for people who PAY for the clean water for free. I’m absolutely sick of this dishonest stuff that is always first step toward a totally confiscatory endgame. NO WAKE RULE IS WOKE!
Okay, what else do people like doing? Hmmmmm? Then ABOLISH IT! Maddening. 😡. Just go away. Everything was great.