February 5, 2026
Julie Moore, Secretary
Vermont Agency for Natural Resources 1 National Life Drive Davis Building 2
Montpelier, Vermont 05620-3901
Dear Secretary Moore and Commissioner Sinsigalli:
Vermont Sierra Club is submitting this letter in support of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) amended Use of Public Water Rules to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to manage wake boats and their activities on Vermont lakes and ponds. The proposed rules continue to allow wakesports where appropriate, offer stronger safety measures for people who use Vermont’s lakes and ponds, and provide greater environmental protections for shoreline wildlife. If promulgated, the amended DEC rule would remove 13 lakes from the list of those that currently allow wakesports.
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with nearly 10,000 members and supporters in Vermont. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. Many of our members enjoy Vermont’s ponds and lakes year-round and have a keen interest in ensuring the State takes steps to ensure safe and environmentally-responsible use of these shared resources.
Artificially enhanced wakes, created by wake boats and wake-enhancing devices, cause environmental damage, degrade water quality, create safety hazards for people in or on the water, and cause physical damage to shorelines and property.
Given the potentially destructive impacts of wake boats, the Vermont Sierra Club supports strong rules that will help protect the health of our communities, water resources, and the wildlife habitat here in Vermont.
The DEC’s amended ANR petition:
- Increases the minimum safety wakesports zone from 50 to 100 acres.
- Requires a minimum wakesports run of 3,000 feet.
- Expands the safety buffer from other users and water structures from 200 to 500 feet.
- Eliminates the Home Lake Rule, which aimed to reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species, replacing it with hot-water ballast tank decontamination for wake boats traveling between lakes.
Vermont Sierra Club supports each of these proposed changes. The first three of the proposed changes rightly focus on safety for those who recreate in and on Vermont’s lakes and ponds. DEC proposed these improved measures in order to “better address safety concerns,” following the agency’s 2024 rulemaking. See DEC’s ANR summary of their petition. As a result of these proposed changes, wakesports would not be permitted on 13 small to moderate-sized, shallow lakes. With wakesports activities prohibited on these waterbodies, lake health and water quality will improve, and user conflicts will decrease.
Vermont Sierra Club fully supports the DEC’s amended Rule changes as they align well with our mission. We also agree with Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes in their recommendation for an even stronger rule that includes:
- a minimum 30-foot water depth (supported by new science);
- a 700-foot setback from other lake users, shorelines, and loon nests (also supported by science); and
- the addition of new Use Of Public Water Rules language stating that wakesports, given their uniquely harmful impacts on human safety and shoreline species, should not be regulated in the same manner as swimming, fishing, waterskiing, and similar recreational uses.
We strongly urge the ANR to approve the DEC’s amended petition, along with the three narrow improvements advocated by Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes, in order to more appropriately manage wakesports activity in the State’s waters.
Robb Kidd
Chapter Director
Vermont Sierra Club
P.O. Box 492
Montpelier, VT 05601
robb.kidd@sierraclub.org