Legislative Update January 22, 2003 Background: During the past three years the Minnesota Lakes Association (MLA) has lobbied our legislators with two different pieces of legislation. The first was a complete re-write of the Minnesota Statue Statues (section 86b.001) for water surface use. The MLA was unable to obtain legislative support for the re-write, therefore, they resorted to addressing a single issue, which was to mandate a 150 foot no wake zone around the perimeter of all lakes in the State. The Senate and House bills did not receive a committee hearing prior to the end of the legislative session.   Current Status: The questions I get asked is will the MLA pursue further no wake legislation this year. We’ll have to wait and see what their agenda is for this 2003 session. In the mean time I suggest you go to the MLA web site. There is some interesting reading that all should be aware of. The first page is apparently their mission statement. Note the second paragraph of this statement. I believe the words “are in danger” is speculative, a scare tactic to foster their agenda. Note there is no supportive data to back up their charges. Now go to “Hot Topics” click on “Featured Articles” then go to “The impacts of motorized watercraft on the lake environment.” This article from the Reporter Dates back to March/April 2001. The fact this is still on their web site should be a signal that they will continue to pursue this agenda item. Scroll down to the Topic “What can we do” (item 1 Establish a no wake zone). The no wake zone is clearly stated as 200 – 300 feet. If the 150 foot no wake ever got approved you can see what the next step would be. This is significant as 67% of the lakes in Minnesota are less than 100 acres in size. Obviously the smaller lakes are more desirable for water ski practice sites, as well as tournament sites. Take Island Lake for example; Its size is about 75 acres. A 150 foot now wake zone would close the lake to us. Imagine what a 200 – 300 foot no wake zone would do for lakes less than 100 acres. It would shut down all water surface use to motorized boats. This is serious stuff that we are faced with. I would suggest you take the time to review the other items on their web page. If you disagree with my analysis then give me a call to discuss further. Jim Olson 651.484.8069 email jimro2001@msn.com