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Fact sheet on report: Boating Trends on Lake Minnetonka, 1984 to 2i miL <br />Background : The report is descriptive, not judgmental. Boating conditions and trends are only <br />described and not discussed as positive or negative. <br />bNA <br />The report covers the period 1984 to 2000, during which time LMCD/DNR have studied <br />boating on the Lake with a consistent methodology. Since 1992, LMCD/DNR have done boat <br />counts ever two years, and boater surveys ever four years. All studies cover the summer <br />period from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. <br />Major findin£: The report documents stability over the years in terms of boating use and boater’s <br />experience on the Lake. By 1984, a general pattern of boating use and boater experience <br />existed, and basically this general pattern exists today, albeit with some variations. <br />Specific Highlights : <br />1 . Boat numbers on the Lake are stable over time. <br />2. The geographic pattern of use of the Lake is stable over time (East used more heavily than <br />Southwest, for example). <br />3. The temporal pattern of use — at least for riparian residents, for whom we have this type of <br />data — is stable over time. For riparians, the same allocation of boating occurs between <br />weekends and weekdays, and by hour within weekend days, and by hour within weekdays. <br />4. Source contributions: The major contributors to boats on the Lake are riparian residents (30%) <br />and commercial accesses (30%), followed by public accesses (25%) and municipal docks <br />(1 5%). Public access has incrca.sed some over time, and commercial access has decreased <br />some over time. <br />5. Boating activities: The Lake is mostly used for boat riding (cruising) and less so for fishing <br />and other activities. Boat riding has increased some over time, and fishing has decreased <br />some. <br />6. Boating equipment: The Lake — being a large body of water — has always been a place for <br />larger boats. Over time, the boats have gotten bigger, more powerful and more substantial. <br />Few utility/fi.shing boats arc still in use on the Lake. <br />7. Boating experience: <br />-Satisfaction with boating on the Lake has stayed consistently high over time. <br />-Boaters perception of crowding on the Lake has remained constant over time. To be sure, <br />the Lake is a crowded place to boat, but it hasn't gotten more crowded over time, <br />according to boaters. <br />-Boaters are much more aware of an enforcement presence on the Lake now as compared with <br />1984. However, few boaters (5%) believe this level of enforcement is “too high"; most <br />think it is “about right" (54%). <br />-In addition, boating restrictions that are in place are not commonly viewed as detractors to <br />the boating experience (5%). Restrictions are much more likely to be viewed as adding to <br />the enjoyment of boating (40%) or not affecting enjoyment (55%). <br />8. Public access: <br />-Boaters using public access give high marks to these facilities as places to launch/land a boat. <br />-The primary use problem public access boaters have is the quantity of public access parking <br />available, and the primary improvement these boaters want is more parking spaces.