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Public commenters press DNR to regulate ballast systems and wake-surfing after Minnesota study
Summary
Multiple members of the public and conservation advocates urged the Natural Resources Board to regulate ballast-equipped wake boats, citing invasive-species risk and a new University of Minnesota study showing surf-mode damage to shallow lakebeds; DNR said it is reviewing the study and would evaluate options.
Public commenters at the Natural Resources Board meeting on Aug. 13 pressed the Department of Natural Resources to regulate ballast-equipped wake boats and wakesurfing, citing both invasive-species transmission via ballast systems and a new University of Minnesota study that documented lakebed resuspension from surf-mode wake boats.
Jim Olson, representing petitioners on a revised home-lake rule, told the board he had obtained records showing broad enforcement of boat-inspection laws for conventional boats but little enforcement or rulemaking for wake boats and their ballast systems. "The department's doing a great job as far as other boats are concerned, but they're totally ignoring the wake boats and the ballast systems," Olson said, urging the DNR to adopt rules requiring thermal…
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