Category: Uncategorized

Sign-ups open on Monday morning Join fellow lake-lovers at the Richmond Library on Tuesday, August 1 to help support and strengthen the Department of Environmental Conservation’s proposed rule to restrict wakeboats. We’ll meet for a rally nearby at 4:00 PM, then walk over to the Library for the 5:00 hearing. You’ll hear eyewitness testimony from…

for why 500 feet is not enough. As the countdown to the August 1 public hearing on the state’s wakeboard rule ticks away, many Vermonters are asking why the 500-foot-from-shore offset proposed by the Department of Environmental Conservation is inadequate. To answer this question, Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes (RWVL) has prepared a six-page position…

The Vermont Agency of of Natural Resources (ANR) just sent to the Secretary of State its official notice of a rule to regulate wake sports on Vermont lakes and ponds. This is an important milestone for Vermont, and for the progress of our efforts to keep our lakes healthy and safe. RWVL thanks and congratulates…

A Call to Action The violent intrusion of even one wake surfer would have made all that impossible here on Lake Elmore. This is what all of us at Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes are working so hard to preserve. And this summer, we need your help more than ever. The next month will determine…

For this edition of the Responsible Wakes newsletter, we interviewed Kathleen Chatot from Joe’s Pond, Paul Zaloom from Woodbury Lake, Pam Ladds from Lake Memphremagog, and a swimmer from Lake Champlain. All are are serious swimmers who have enjoyed Vermont’s lakes for many years. Kathleen Chatot, Joe’s Pond Kathleen, tell us about your swimming on…

The dictionary tells us that turbidity is the quality of being cloudy, opaque, or thick with suspended matter. Something we don’t want to see in our lakes. Scientists have studied the causes and effects of turbidity in lake water. Here are some of their findings: These findings led Sebastien Raymond and his colleagues at the…

Recently the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on a survey conducted by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, an advisory body to the state’s Natural Resources Board. Survey participation has increased markedly since it moved to online responses. Participation has more than doubled in the five years since these surveys began. Not surprisingly, the survey included several questions…

or, Why a Wake Boat Offset of 500 Feet Won’t Work on Small Lakes The narrated animation below illustrates a typical summer day on a small Vermont lake. It demonstrates the normal and traditional uses of the lakes people enjoy as a natural shared resource. It introduces a single wake boat to show how its…

Much of Vermont belongs to the people. We share in common the Green Mountain National Forest (400,000 acres), our State Parks (43,000 acres), and our State Forests (345,000 acres). The people own the public schools, the public highways, and the State Colleges and Universities. Vermonters in common also own the lakes and ponds, 800 of…

Our state’s economy depends on outdoor recreation. Vermonters and tourists alike enjoy many activities on the slopes, in the woods, and on our common waters. No other state but Hawaii relies so much on these kinds of activities. An important part of Vermont’s economic growth derives from our lakes and ponds. Lake-based recreation and tourism…