The March quarterly Membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 18th at 9-11 AM CT. This will be a really interesting meeting covering the new boat operator’s license, the (now) very busy legislative session in St. Paul, things you may not understand about beavers, and a few other topics along the way.

The 2025 boating season brings a few new rules and new requirements for boaters. We are pleased to have Lieutenant Eric Sullivan, the DNR’s Marine Unit Supervisor, as our first speaker. He will outline the new mandatory education and boat operator’s license, and provide the latest information on who is impacted and what they will need to do.

MN COLA is pleased to have played a role in getting this legislation passed to increase safety on the water and to help more boaters understand how to manage conflicts over the use of the water resources.

Beavers! You might be thinking about them as a nuisance species because of the property damage they can cause, but these aquatic animals can be a very positive force for the environment as “nature’s engineers”. An expert on beavers is right here in Minnesota working at the U of M.

Emily Fairfax is an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society at the University of Minnesota, and is also affiliated with the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory. Beavers are gaining popularity around the world as a partner in climate change adaptation and mitigation work. But how do we balance human, ecological, hydrological, and economic considerations when we work with beavers?

Jeff Forester of MN Lakes and Rivers Advocates will be on hand to provide us with an update on the 2025 Legislative session. You can be assured Jeff will have fascinating insights on the Governor’s proposed 50% cut to the AIS Prevention Aid and other topics affecting our public waters.

And there will be more topics to hear about at the meeting!

As usual, the meeting will be held via Zoom and registration is required. Register anytime before the meeting. The Zoom link for the meeting itself will be provided following registration. You will also receive an email from Zoom with the meeting link and more details.

As always, everyone welcome to attend, so feel free to forward this meeting information.