|
|
On Tuesday, October 11, Cook County Commissioners unanimously approved a request by the Caribou Lake Property Association to ban wake boats on Caribou Lake.
Before that request becomes official it must go to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for their final say on the matter.
Fred Morris, president of the Caribou Lakes Property Owners Association, told commissioners that the 728-acre lake is not suited for wake boats because it has four big bays, essentially making it more like four smaller lakes. The bays are long and narrow and not suited to the sport of wake surfing, said Morris.
A study released by the University of Minnesota found that boats built with large ballast tanks to lower the boat in the water, cause waves that are three to five feet high, and these boats should operate at least 500 feet from the shore, so they don’t cause shoreline damage.
Morris told commissioners there is no place on Caribou Lake where a wake-boat could operate and not be within 500 feet of the shore.
Morris presented a petition signed by 75 property owners on the lake asking for the ban. The petition stated, “Wake boats and wake surfing pose a threat to the lake by causing shoreline erosion, turbulent disruption of lake bottom sediment, increased risk of the introduction of aquatic invasion species (AIS), and disruption of the normal usage of the lake by fishermen, pontoon boats, and on-motorized watercraft.”
The petition also said wake boats have the serious potential of “Disturbing the regular nesting areas of loon families due to high waves.”
Leave a Reply