With the July 30 and 31 Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) public meetings behind us, the deadline to submit your written comments — 4:30 pm Tuesday, August 19 — is fast approaching.
To help you do that, we have prepared a Comparison Table of Wakesports Rule Topics (click HERE) that summarizes the current wakesports rule and changes proposed by the DEC. The table also includes our Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes’ (RWVL) stance on each rule change topic. We find much to support in the DEC’s proposed changes and hope you will stand firm with RWVL in offering your support. We also hope you will support our recommendations for strengthening the rule.
RWVL file photo of the DEC’s public pre-rulemaking meeting in Newport VT on July 31, 2025.
Two important topics:
- AIS/Water Quality. One of our major concerns is the DEC’s proposal to withdraw the Home Lake Rule, as it provides increased protection against the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) in water discharged from wake boat ballast tanks. We feel strongly that without this protection, the DEC needs to make a significantly stronger effort in decontaminating wake boats than is currently proposed.
- Safety. On the other hand, the DEC took several steps to address the public’s safety concerns — concerns that were ignored in the formulation of last year’s UPW Wakesports Rule. Chief among these is the DEC’s recommendation to expand the size of the wakesports zone from 50 to 100 acres, which would remove 12 lakes from the list of 30 where wakesports are permitted, a big win. In response, wake boat owners at the public hearings vociferously protested the change from 50- to 100-acres. We strongly support the 100-acres.
As Meg Handler, a member of RWVL’s Leadership team, writes, “I think it’s very important to stress SUPPORT for this [DEC proposed] rule. DEC will never ban wakesports. Therefore, we will never get what we truly want from them. This rule takes 12 lakes off the list. That is huge.”
How you can help
To have the greatest impact in pressing our case, you should choose one or more of the topics you are most passionate about from the Comparison Table. Your comments need not be long. Feel free to modify what you submitted for last year’s 2024 DEC UPW Wakesports Rule or for your December 2024 comments on individual petitions. (Those prior comments will not be considered during this process.) Where possible, include a supporting story and/or evidence to strengthen your statement. Email your statement by 4:30 pm, August 19 to:
- The DEC. Email comments with “wakesports” in the subject line to: ANR.WSMDLakes@vermont.gov.
- Your local Vermont Senate and House Representatives. Include that you are a “constituent” or a “property owner” in the subject line You can find email addresses for your state legislators here.
- Your local news outlet. Submit your comments as a letter to the editor or opinion piece.
- RWVL. We want to know what you care most about. Please copy us at responsiblewakesvt@gmail.com.
Click HERE for DEC information and RWVL suggestions that will greatly help you compose your comment.
While August 19th is the end of the pre-rulemaking process, it will still be many months before new rules are finally adopted. The formal rulemaking process is scheduled for this fall, during which the public will again be given the opportunity to share comments at public hearings and submit written comments. The rules will also have to be presented to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR), the last step before adoption.
We will continue to keep you informed on how this process is progressing and reach out with information on how you can participate. In the meantime, we encourage you to share this email with your family, friends, neighbors, and anyone else you know who loves Vermont’s lakes.
We thank all of you for your ongoing support during what has, at times, seemed like an endless journey. We ask that you continue to hang in there with us until our wakesports goals have been achieved.