Smith: Groups call on DNR to make it easier to enact ordinances on wake surfing
Public calls for increased regulation of wake-enhanced boating in Wisconsin took center stage at Wednesday's Natural Resources Board meeting in Madison.
The form of boating involves use of a special power vessel with water-filled ballast tanks to increase its displacement and create large waves for surfers or tubers to ride.
But as wake surfing has increased in popularity in recent years, so have complaints about damage to lakes and conflicts with other boaters and property owners caused by the activity.
Neither the Legislature nor the Department of Natural Resources has taken statewide action on the issue.
Wake-enhanced boating is generally allowed on any Wisconsin water that allows operation of a motorboat above no-wake speed.
A bill that would have restricted wake-enhanced boating to Wisconsin lakes 1,500 acres or larger and at least 700 feet from shore failed to receive a hearing in the 2023-24 legislative session. And though the DNR in recent years has appeared receptive to discussions about potential changes to wake surfing rules, it has so far opted to kick the can down the road.
The boating industry, meanwhile, lobbied last session for a bill with minimal restrictions (it also didn't receive a hearing) and asks wake surfers to be courteous to other boaters and "maintain a safe distance from other boats, swimmers, and structures."
It's not clear when, or if, any statewide law or rule change might be enacted on wake-enhanced boating.
However, a grassroots movement is growing to pass local ordinances to restrict or prohibit the activity.
More: Smith: Spring hearings provide latest landslide call for action on wake-enhanced boating
Local restrictions on wake-enhanced boating are increasing across Wisconsin
As of this month, 23 such ordinances are in place in Wisconsin, according to Richard Phillips of the Last Wilderness Alliance, a non-profit organization based in Presque Isle. The Last Wilderness Alliance monitors and assists municipalities with enacting such ordinances.
The first was passed in 2009 in Mequon in Ozaukee County to help reduce shoreline erosion on the Milwaukee River.
The most recent, enacted May 16 in the Town of Presque Isle in Vilas County, prohibits wake-enhanced boating on about three dozen lakes but allows it on Oxbow Lake if conducted at least 300 feet from shore.
One tribal nation – the Lac du Flambeau Tribe – also recently took action. The tribe now prohibits wake-enhanced boating on the 260 lakes within the boundaries of its reservation, including 3,483-acre Fence Lake in Vilas County.
Lacking any statewide action, the appetite for local restrictions on wake surfing keeps increasing, said Dan Butkus of Waunakee, president of the non-profit group Wisconsin Lakes.
Butkus on Wednesday addressed the NRB with recommendations he said would help the DNR serve the public and protect the state's lakes.
In fact, they came as an appeal from five state-based non-profit organizations: Lakes at Stake Wisconsin; Last Wilderness Alliance; Wisconsin’s Green Fire; Wisconsin Lakes; and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.
Butkus said all the groups had been working to reduce and manage the impact of wake-enhanced boating on Wisconsin’s lakes and other waters through "reasonable, science-based education and, where appropriate, regulation."
Non-profit groups offer suggestions to DNR to help guide implementation of ordinances
They came together to offer a bundle of suggestions to assist town boards, lake associations and individuals around Wisconsin as they consider ordinances on wake-enhanced boating.
They are:
Designate one or two DNR staff persons as agency contacts regarding wake-related ordinance development.
Provide guidance that ordinances regulating artificial wake creation are legal (based on a 2023 memo from the Wisconsin Legislative Council).
Offer model ordinance templates, including the template developed by Last Wilderness Alliance and already used, with agency approval, by a number of local governments.
Develop a checklist for local officials that provides an easy to follow flow chart based on the ordinance development information provided in the "Guideline for Creating Local Boating Ordinances" document
Provide regular online informational sessions on wake-related ordinance development (similar to the presentations provided by DNR conservation warden Darren Kuhn at the WI Lakes & Rivers Convention), perhaps in conjunction with the non-profit groups.
Butkus said he understands the DNR is stretched for staff and resources. But these steps, he believed, could be implemented with minimal time and expense.
It would help state residents understand local ordinances are not violations of the Public Trust Doctrine and that they don't have to "just wait for DNR to do something."
"With the increase in size, power and number of watercraft on Wisconsin waterbodies, local boating ordinances are becoming more and more important as a tool to regulate and set community norms for recreation on our waters," Butkus said. "This small step would provide a major tool empowering local governments to make their own decision on the issue and cut through a lot of the perceived issues that can derail that process unnecessarily."
Steven Little, DNR deputy secretary, indicated the department would consider the suggestions but made no immediate commitment. He did say the DNR would offer a review of issues related to wake-enhanced boating at the June NRB meeting.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Groups ask DNR to make it easier to enact ordinances on wake surfing
