Over the course of the past year, NASBLA renewed five Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), announced the new Education Seminar which will be kicking off this spring, developed the NASBLA Investigative Training for Boating Incidents Standard, announced the addition of the
Waterways Management Committee, and now provides association management services for the Paddlesports Trade Coalition (PTC). To find out more about the 2023 top accomplishments,
check out this video from members of the NASBLA Executive Board.
1. NASBLA Education Seminar
NASBLA is excited to announce a new event that will kick off in the spring of 2024. NASBLA will be adding an Education Seminar to its annual professional development offerings. This annual event will focus on training and professional development for state Education Coordinators and other boating education professionals.
2. Boating Education Advisory Panel
The Boating Education Advisory Panel was originally developed as an ongoing project of the Education & Outreach Committee to meet the needs of current and future state Education Coordinators and to allow states to share information about their programs. In 2022, the long-standing charge was elevated to a free-standing panel of NASBLA. The panel will work as a counterpart to the Education and Outreach Committee, serving as the implementation arm of the Committee’s policies and recommendations.
3. Memorandums of Understanding
In 2023, the NASBLA Executive Board worked with our RBS partners to review and update multiple Memorandums of Understanding. This year NASBLA renewed three MOUs. These partners include the International Association of Marine Investigators, the National Safe Boating Council, and the American Canoe Association.
4. NASBLA & U.S. Coast Guard MOU for the BOAT Program
On March 15th members of the NASBLA Executive Board met with the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Boat Forces to discuss and re-sign the MOU between the United States Coast Guard and NASBLA. With this agreement, the Coast Guard recognizes the NASBLA Boat Operations and Training (BOAT) Program as the national standard for the training and credentialing of state, local, county and tribal maritime law enforcement officers and rescue personnel.
5. Paddlesports Trade Coalition
Early this year a group of paddlesports industry leaders announced the formation of the Paddlesports Trade Coalition. After standing up an interim board to oversee the development of the 501(c)(6) nonprofit, NASBLA was contracted to provide association management services for this new organization.
6. Incident Investigation Standard
In 2022, the NASBLA Executive Board tasked the National Boating Standards Panel with administering the NASBLA Investigative Training for Boating Incidents Standard, through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process. This Standard was diligently drafted by a workgroup of subject matter experts and that workgroup has collaborated with the Panel during the ANSI process.
7. K-12 Life Jacket Education StandardAs a part of the National Boating Standards Panel work this year, the panel developed a K-12 Life Jacket Education Standard workgroup. The charge of this workgroup was to develop a new standard which will serve as the foundation for educating younger boaters.
8. Renewed Sponsorship & Partnership with Kalkomey
In May, NASBLA and Kalkomey, owner of Boat Ed and BoaterExam.com, renewed their long-standing Strategic Partnership for another three-year period. This partnership provides financial support for the annual Educator of the Year Award presented at the NASBLA Annual Conference, the State RBS Workshop and other NASBLA events.
9. Increased Engagement from BLAs & Members
An important focus for NASBLA this year was the continued growth of engagement among BLAs and the NASBLA membership. Early in the year NASBLA saw a more than 50% increase in overall attendance at the 2023 NASBLA State RBS Workshop. Additionally, to support this goal, NASBLA offered for the first time, two RBS Leadership Academies in a single year. An additional area that saw significant growth this year was the NASBLA Certified Recreational Boating Professional program.
10. Waterways Management Committee
NASBLA announced the addition of the
Waterways Management Committee to the list of NASBLA Policy Committees. The committee will function as a virtual committee in 2024 and will focus on topics such as guidance and best practices related to Aids to Navigation, access and planning strategies for water trails, multi-use management, waterway user conflict, and addressing current and future trends in waterways management.
Click here to watch the 2023 NASBLA Top Accomplishments video.
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The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) is a national nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that works to develop public policy for recreational boating safety. NASBLA represents the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and the U.S. territories. We offer a variety of resources, including training, model acts, education standards, publications and more. Through a national network of thousands of professional educators, law enforcement officers and volunteers, we affect the lives of nearly 85 million American boaters.