Progressive will have an interactive booth at each of the following NMMA Boat & Sportshows. Stop by to pick up a free gift, take part in boat-related activities and socialize with fellow boaters.

Ahoy Fellow Mariners! USMA Chicago, a locally owned and operated marine education academy, is once again offering it's USCG Masters and OUPV Captain's License course at Columbia Yacht Club this Spring. The up-coming class will start Thursday Feb 16 at 1800 hours and run through April 14, 2012. The 80 hour 8 week program has been approved by USCG/NMC and USMA Chicago is authorized to administer the examinations in lieu of travelling to a USCG Exam Center in Toledo or St. Louis.

An Informational Session is scheduled for Thursday Feb. 9 at 1900 hours at Columbia YC in which all are interested persons are invited to attend to learn more of the process of getting a Captain's License.

THE GRE AT L AK E S COMMI S S ION AND THE
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative led a project
to develop and evaluate alternatives for physically separating
the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins in the
Chicago Area Waterway System to prevent the movement
of Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species (AIS). This
report summarizes the results of the project and shows
that separation can be achieved while also maintaining or
enhancing water quality, flood management, and transportation.
The engineering and economic analyses suggest
that separation is feasible and provide a solid foundation on
which further dialogue to advance a long-term solution to
the AIS threat can proceed. Separation is defined as stopping
the flow of water by placing physical

Over the last 50 years, Lake Ontario's coastal wetlands have been knocked out of balance, strangely enough, by a plan to balance lake levels.

The plan, which dates back to 1963, tries to balance the needs of hydropower facilities, commercial shipping, recreational boating, and waterside property owners. All are significantly affected by even small changes in lake or seaway levels.

The plan didn't take the needs of coastal wetlands into account, and they've suffered as a result.

But this week, the International Joint Commission released details on its new plan for regulating lake levels. The proposal factors in the relationship between lake levels and coastal wetlands and allows for a more natural cycle of lake level increases and decreases. In short, the effect of levels changes on wetlands will be considered alongside the effects on hydropower, shipping, and waterside property.

BOCA GRANDE, Fla. – The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas reported today that it is responding to an industrywide call for greater support of the American Boating Congress and will not only host a full board meeting at this year’s event and attend the event as one large group, but will also actively promote ABC to its members and encourage their participation.
 
One of the top-10 highest-ranked joint action proposals that came out of the recent industry summit in Chicago was that ABC should be expanded “to all boating segments, beyond manufacturers and get support and attendance from all areas,” the group noted in a release.