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Figure 4. Boat owners' opinions about management actions to improve boating safety <br />Require ooerator's license for all boat operators <br />Require safety course for power boat operators <br />Restnct number of people using heavily used lakes/rivers <br />Require license for power boat operators <br />Require personal flotation device for all boaters <br />Require operator's license for boaters under 18 <br />Require safety course for all boat operators <br />Develop stricter safety regulations <br />Restrict types of use to certain times of day on heavily used lakes/rivers <br />Require personal flotation device for boaters under 12 <br />Enforce safety regulations aggressively <br />Provide protected harbors on large lakes <br />Increase penalties for safety violations <br />Restrict types of use to certain parts of heavily used lakes/rivers <br />Restrict speed of boats on heavily used lakes/rivers <br />iim <br />I 80 <br />0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 <br />Percent Supporting Management Action <br />regions (49% meUD, 39% nonh, 45% <br />south). Metro region boat owners appar­ <br />ently see a more senous set of problems on <br />lakes and rivers there than do outstatc <br />owners, and they are more willing to im­ <br />pose sine ter regulations on boating behav­ <br />ior to help solve those problems. <br />Another segment of the boat owners sup­ <br />portive of stricter regulation were those <br />who had completed a boating safety course. <br />These boat owners seem to expect a higher <br />level of safe behavior by others and they ore <br />willing to accept a higher ''*vel of manage ­ <br />ment to ensure that safety. i hose who have <br />completed a boating safety course (regard ­ <br />less of who offered it) are more likely to <br />support management actions such as re­ <br />quirement of boating safely courses, more <br />law enforcement, increased penalties for <br />boating infracuons, and the provision of <br />protected lu rbors. <br />Minne.sota boat owners support the uevel- <br />opment of protected harbors on ! rgc lakes <br />and the placement of buoys indicating <br />water depths and hazards as means of en­ <br />hancing boating safety. Figure 4 shows that <br />protected harbors were supported by 52% <br />of the boat owners (and opposed by only <br />10%). These protected harbors on larger <br />lakes would include a breakwater, launch­ <br />ing facility, and lic-up spots. Protected <br />harbors received a higher degree of support <br />in the north region (56%) dian in the mcuo <br />(52%) or south (43%) regions. This is not <br />surprising, since large lakes (Supenor, <br />Red, Lake of the Woods. Mille Lacs, etc.) <br />arc located in the northern part of the state. <br />Over 60% of the state's boat owners also <br />believe that providing buoys to mark navi ­ <br />gational hazards and water depths would <br />enhance their most frequently occurring <br />boating outing. <br />Boat owners also responded to boating <br />safety-related issues regarding Lake Supe­ <br />rior and the Mississippi River. A numberof <br />owners stated mat they didn ’t boat on these <br />waters (or didn ’t boat more often) because <br />they didn'^ know enough about boating on <br />Lake Superior (58%) or on the Mississippi <br />River (39%). Almost half (43%) of the <br />state's boat owners believe they lack the <br />skills necessary for boating on Lake Supe­ <br />rior and 27% of the respondents are con ­ <br />cerned about the locks and commercial <br />barge uaffic on the Mississippi. Additional <br />safety-related data regard; boating on <br />Lake Superior and the Mississippi River <br />can be found in the research reports on <br />these two resources {Tourism Research <br />Summaries No. 5 and No. 6). <br />Summary <br />While Minnesota boat owners suffer rela­ <br />tively few ser*''Ms boating accidents, many <br />owners do think safety-related problems <br />exist on Minnesota lakes and rivers and <br />they support direct regulation of boaung <br />through enforcement of existing safety <br />rules and regulations. <br />Management actions that appear to be the <br />most supported by Minnesota boat owners <br />are the restriction of the speed of boats and <br />the rcsunciion of certain types of boating to <br />specific parts of heavily used lakes and <br />rivers. <br />Boat owners in the metro region arc even <br />more supportive of stricter management <br />actions than those in other regions. They <br />favor more aggressive enforcement of <br />regulations and increased penalties for vio ­ <br />lating boating regulations. Safety-related <br />problems seem to be more acute on meuo <br />region lakes and rivers, and boat owners in <br />the metro region arc in favor of manage ­ <br />ment steps to solve the problems. <br />A majority of boat owncis support placing <br />buoys (statewide) to mark hOiUird areas and <br />providing protected harbors on large water <br />bodies in the north region. <br />Based on the response to this survey, it <br />appears that management efforts to im­ <br />prove boating .safety in the state should fo ­ <br />cus on programs that will encourage .safer <br />boating practices, enforce existing regula ­ <br />tions. and improve boating facilities.