Protect Your Shoreline With An Itasca Waters Shoreland Advisor

Local Regulation of Watercraft

Join us for a practical webinar exploring why and how boat traffic is legally managed on lakes and rivers—and what that means for communities, recreation, and water protection. A panel featuring a water- and coastal-law attorney, a boat-traffic enforcement officer, and the director of a public-interest organization that helps people navigate lake and river issues will explain the legal foundations for restrictions, real-world safety and enforcement considerations, and how communities can balance recreation, property rights, and environmental protection. Ideal for lake residents, local officials, lake associations, and anyone interested in fair, effective watercraft management.

Presented By: Terra Bowling, Jeff Forester, and Matt Miller.

Terra BowlingTerra Bowling is Research Counsel II at the National Sea Grant Law Center, where she is editor of The SandBar, a quarterly publication reporting on legal issues affecting U.S. oceans and coasts, and the Ocean and Coastal Case Alert, a monthly newsletter highlighting recent court decisions impacting ocean and coastal resource management. She provides legal research and outreach for the wider Sea Grant network on ocean, coastal, and natural resources legal issues.

Jeff Forester is the longtime Executive Director of Minnesota Lakes and Rivers (MLR), where he has led efforts for more than two decades to protect Minnesota’s lakes and rivers through citizen engagement and strong partnerships with policymakers. A Hubert Humphrey Public Policy Fellow and Shannon Leadership Fellow, Jeff is the author of Forest for the Trees: How Humans Shaped the Northwoods and an Emmy-winning associate producer of TRANSPLANT, A Gift for Life. He lives in Minneapolis and spends as much time as possible at family land on Lake Vermilion near the Boundary Waters.

Matt Miller has served as a Conservation Officer for the Minnesota DNR Enforcement Division since 2007, and has a combined total of 24 years in law enforcement. As a CO, he spent 14 years on the Division’s previous Lake Superior Marine Unit, and is now the Duluth-area officer assigned to the statewide Marine Unit. His areas of focus include watercraft operation enforcement and education, ice rescue, sonar and ROV work for drowning recoveries, and commercial/charter enforcement on Minnesota’s waters of Lake Superior.