Can you join together with other Mainers who love spending time swimming, fishing, and boating to support improved boating safety on Maine’s iconic waters?
On Monday, March 7, the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee voted in nearly unanimous support of common-sense boater safety education requirements. This bill establishes a mandatory boating safety course requirement and minimum age for operators of motorboats over 25 horsepower and personal watercraft. LD 1663 also creates a stakeholder group to work with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to develop additional programming and policy around boating and safety outreach and education.
Your legislators need to hear from you that you strongly support the Maine Boating Safety Bill.Here are some points to share with your legislator about why LD 1663 deserves support:
- Boater safety is an ongoing concern in Maine. Many of our members regularly report unsafe boating behavior, and a boater safety education course is one step in the right direction to improve boating safety for our youngest boaters.
- Mandatory boater education is already required in 46 other states. Maine is way behind the curve in setting up a program to help ensure that recreational boat operators are informed about safe vessel operation.
- Irresponsible boat operation damages Maine’s lakes and wildlife habitat.There are boating rules in place to protect both lakes and wildlife habitat from degradation, such as the 200-foot boat safety zone and the prohibition on transportation of aquatic plants. Ensuring that operators are aware of and understand these rules helps to protect water resources for all of Maine’s communities.
- The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is fully supportive of mandatory boater education.Staff at IFW see the impacts of unsafe boating behavior every day, and they are behind this bill because it will reduce accident rates and make Maine’s lakes safer, as demonstrated by the effectiveness of these programs in other states.
Call or email your legislators TODAY and urge them to support LD 1663 when it comes up for a floor vote in the coming weeks.
