FAIRLEE — After years of debate, wake surfing will be banned on Lake Fairlee.
Vermont’s Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules — which includes state Rep. Larry Satcowitz, D-Randolph — voted 5-3 last week to approve a proposal to expand rules governing wake sports in Vermont, banning the activity on Lake Fairlee and 11 other lakes where they were previously allowed.
Satcowitz and other supporters on the committee concluded that the expanded rules do not violate any factors they can consider, including whether the rules are within the scope of the Agency of Natural Resources, or ANR, which wrote them, are against legislative intent, are arbitrary or ignore economic or environmental impacts, according to a recording of the meeting. Some committee members also said they supported the merits of the rules and the work ANR put into them.
Under the new rules, the activity is not allowed on Lake Fairlee, though it will still be permitted in the Upper Valley on parts of Lake Morey, effective June 11. Wake sports now will only be allowed on 18 of the more than 800 lakes and ponds in Vermont.
“It was a tremendous amount of work, but quite worth it,” Lake Fairlee Association President David Roth said in a Tuesday interview. “Most importantly, generations of users who are able to enjoy the healthy and safe lake are going to reap the benefits of that hard work.”
Wake boats are specialized motorboats that can enter a surf mode, drawing in water to increase their weight and generating large waves for sports such as wake surfing; the new rule governs surf mode but does not ban the boats themselves.
Opponents say surf mode damages the environment and is dangerous to other people using the lake.
Research and industry recommendations differ on the overall impact of wake boats and what is a safe depth or distance from shore to run surf mode.
The movement against wake surfing in Vermont dates back several years. In 2021, a citizen group called Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes submitted a petition to the ANR requesting strict wake surfing rules, including a 1,000-foot shoreline buffer. Since then, the state has undertaken multiple rounds of rulemaking to address wake boats.
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Under the new rules, wake boats will be allowed to run in surf mode only in designated zones where there are at least 100 contiguous acres of water that are at least 500 feet from shore on all sides, 20 feet deep, 3,000 feet long and 200 feet wide.
The 460-acre Lake Fairlee has only 96 contiguous acres that meet the new requirements.
The rules expand on a previous policy adopted in April 2024, doubling the minimum size of a wake sports zone and adding the minimum length requirement of 3,000 feet.
The 2024 rule was classed as “the most restrictive” wake sport regulation in the country by Laura Dlugolecki, an ANR lakes policy and outreach coordinator who led the rulemaking processes.
Even so, within days of approving the rule, the agency received petitions from around the state asking for exemptions for certain lakes, including Lake Fairlee.
The Lake Fairlee Association (LFA), selectboards and conservation commissions from Thetford, Fairlee and West Fairlee, and Lake Fairlee’s five summer camps, have long opposed wake sports. The groups argue that they are an unsafe and incompatible use on the lake, especially because they generate large waves that can be dangerous to campers kayaking, sailing or canoeing in small boats.
For the LFA, some of the biggest problems with wake boats are environmental; the group argues that the boats disturb lake bottoms and erode shorelines, which increases harmful cyanobacteria blooms, and spread invasive species by transporting water from lake to lake.
“Our role is to protect the health of this extraordinarily, remarkably beautiful perfect resource which is Lake Fairlee,” Roth said of the association. “(…) We believe that wake sports were not compatible with that goal.”
The wave of public feedback following the approval of the 2024 rule prompted the agency to launch another rulemaking process.
Wake boats make up only about 1% of boats launched on Vermont lakes, according to data collected by volunteer Public Access Greeters who staff boat launches around the state. Though the sites are not staffed full time, they are more likely to be during busy summer weekends and holidays.
Of 11,475 motorboats launched around Vermont and logged by greeters in 2024, only 127 were wake boats. Of 12,793 motor boats launched in 2025, 114 were wake boats.
On Lake Fairlee, only three wake boats were launched in 2024 and four in 2025.
Still, the rule change has opponents.
Amy McLaughlin’s family owns a home on Lake Fairlee and one of only two wake boats docked on the lake. They have been vocally opposed to regulations that would ban wake sports on Lake Fairlee.
In submitted comments, McLaughlin urged the ANR not to ban wake sports on the lake, noting that the family has been safely surfing there since 2009 and has worked to teach other wake boat operators how to run their boats safely.
McLaughlin, who lives in southern New Hampshire full time and seasonally on Lake Fairlee, said in an interview Wednesday that her family is still determining next steps after the rule change.
While the family will adhere to the new rules, McLaughlin said they will continue to use their wake boat for activities that are still allowed such as boating, fishing and water skiing.
In general, McLaughlin said the agency did not use the “least restrictive approach” to manage conflicting uses on the lake and called the rule change “arbitrary,” disputing the data supporters have relied on. She emphasized that her family has worked to protect Lake Fairlee over the years and “cares deeply” about the health of the lake.
A coalition of about 30 Vermont legislators also wrote to LCAR opposing the rule change, including state Rep. VL Coffin, R-Cavendish, who represents Weathersfield.
The group argued that the parts of the proposed rule “lack clear scientific justification,” that”the standards appear arbitrary and unsupported by transparent Vermont-specific data” and that the rule underestimates what financial impact it will have on boat owners and small businesses.
Efforts to regulate wake sports in New Hampshire have not gained the same momentum as Vermont. New Hampshire has no specific requirements for wake boat operation, except that the boat be 150 feet from shore when a person is surfing and that surfers wear a life jacket.
The new rules will be enforced by the Vermont State Police Marine Division.
