Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Adopts Final Boating Rules For Western Region

Friday, October 13, 2000
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This article was Archived on Monday, July 01, 2002

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission has adopted final boating rules which will apply to all western Montana public lakes and reservoirs (any lake with legal public access) and to all lakes surrounded by Plum Creek Timber Company lands in western Montana (FWP Regions 1 and 2). The new rules, which go into effect May 15, 2001, include:

• No-Wake Distance From Shore: The rule states that all watercraft must maintain no-wake speeds within 200 feet of the shoreline of all lakes.
• No-Wake on Lakes Less Than 35 acres: The rule states that all watercraft must maintain no-wake speeds on all lakes 35 acres or less.

Exceptions include: a few older-style personal watercraft which must maintain a certain minimum operating speed to stay upright and motorized watercraft towing a water skier from or to a dock or the shore. Both must travel the most direct route through the no-wake zone. Lakes greater than 35 acres located within the Thompson Chain of Lakes are excluded from the rule on no-wake speeds within 200 feet from shore. Wake restrictions on these lakes were set earlier by the Commission in a public process specifically related to the Thompson Chain of Lakes. "The rules address a variety of issues that come up with increased public use of these waters," said Doug Monger, FWP Parks Division administrator. "Those issues include public safety, noise, social conflicts, shoreline erosion, and waterfowl nesting." Monger said the Commission wanted to solve as many problems as they could with as little regulation as possible. The FWP Commission adopted these rules as a result of comments received during a series of public meetings held this spring in Missoula, Kalispell, Libby, Thompson Falls, and Polson. FWP received more than 300 written comments on the boating conflict issue, two-to-one in support of these rules. The FWP Commission’s authority to resolve water-based recreation conflicts was granted to the Commission by the 1999 Montana Legislature.