We are Crow Wing County's coalition of Lake and River Associations

​​Promoting leadership and education that result in healthy ecosystems for present and future generations.

The Latest News

Become a Loon Research Ambassador
The National Loon Center in Crosslake is starting an exciting new program to support its research efforts in 2022. Members of the new Loon Research Ambassador Program will sponsor one of the 48 loons banded in the first season of the research study. Members will receive updates on their sponsored individual loon and will have the opportunity to meet with the research scientists and participate in the research this summer. You can learn more and sign up for the program by visiting the National Loon Center website. 

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University of Minnesota Releases Wake Boat Study Results - 2/2/2022
The study's much-anticipated results, released on Tuesday, show that wake boats should stay farther from shore than traditional boats to avoid potential damage to the shoreline from their larger waves.  From the Research Brief:

The findings reveal that wake waves produced by wakesurf boats during wakesurfing are not only higher, but they also require greater distance to decrease to the same height as wake waves from more typical recreational boats. This study found that:
       - When researchers compared the wake waves of the four boats during their most typical mode of operations, the data indicated that wakesurf boats require distances greater than 500 feet from the shoreline/docks and other boats (or the distance of a little less than 1.5 football fields) to decrease their wake wave characteristics to levels similar to the non-wakesurf boats.

•       - When researchers compared the wake waves of the four boats under conditions that generated the largest wake wave, the data indicated that wakesurf boats require distances greater than 425 feet from the shoreline/docks and other boats to decrease their wake wave characteristics to levels similar to the non-wakesurf boats.
•       - In both modes of operation, the suggested distance from shoreline/docks for wakesurf boats is more than twice the distance of the 200 feet currently recommended by Minnesota guidelines for common recreational boats. 
•       - Under both slow and fast speed conditions, the wakesurf boats produced the largest waves in terms of height, energy, and power when compared to the non-wakesurf boats.
•       - Larger, more energetic waves need to travel a greater distance to decrease in wave height, energy, and power.

This report establishes an important baseline for the study of wake waves produced by wakesurf boats—a topic of growing interest across the country. 

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