Boating trends study
Boating in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area: Current Status (1996) and Trends Since 1984
Minnesotans are avid boaters, as evidenced by the state having the highest per capita boat ownership in the nation. About half of Minnesota?s boaters live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Twin Cities? boaters find the nearby lakes and rivers convenient and enjoyable places for after work and weekend outings. Boating on Twin Cities? waters, however, is different than boating in other parts of the state. The primary difference is the large number of Twin Cities? boaters compared with the size of the water resource. Lake and river boating in the metropolitan area is more congested and, as a result, more regulated than in other parts of the state. In short, the experience of boating in the metropolitan area is distinctive. A principal goal of this study is to describe the boating experience and see to what extent it has changed.
This boating study is an update of a study done in 1984, and changes since 1984 are presented throughout the report. The study has three broad goals: describe the many facets of the boating experience; measure the total number of boats on lakes and trace those boats to their means of access; and provide information to guide public access programs. The goals are accomplished through a combination of aerial observations and boater surveys with public access users, commercial access users (e.g., marina boaters) and lakeshore residents.
This boating study is a cooperative research project of the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Boating Safety Program, Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Trails and Waterways Division.
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