MANITOWOC COUNTY (NBC 26) — The Town of Schleswig has passed an ordinance banning wake surfing and wake boating on Cedar Lake, ending months of debate over the future of the sport on those waters.
The new rule restricts boats that use equipment such as ballast tanks or bags to create large, artificial wakes. Even if state regulations change, local ordinances like this one would remain in place if they are stricter than any state standard.
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Sawyer Schmidtman, who grew up surfing on Cedar Lake, said he was disappointed by the outcome.
"It was like all of your hard work and kinda a little bit of your freedom got ripped away from ya," Schmidtman said.
Schmidtman said he had hoped officials would reach a compromise rather than an outright ban.
"It's not a personal battle by any means, like I said from the beginning, we want a compromise, come out here, enjoy the water just like everyone else does," Schmidtman said.
Cedar Lake resident Michael Strebe, who has pushed for the ordinance for years, said the ban was long overdue.
"It's been three long years I've been trying to get this ordinance through to save our lake, and I'm glad it finally happened," Strebe said.
"Without that, I would fear that my lake would be destroyed," Strebe said.
Cindy Leitner, a Cedar Lake resident who owns a wake boat and leads the Wisconsin Water Sports Coalition, said education — not a ban — was the answer.
"Understanding where the zones are to surf, understanding what you should be doing when you're surfing… and that's missing, there was no education done on this lake," Leitner said.
Leitner said the issue should be addressed at the state level rather than through local restrictions.
"We need a state standard to solve this problem… taking away rights is not what we should be doing at the local level," Leitner said.
Discussions about wake boating are also continuing at the state level. I have been following this debate for months and will continue to track developments as they unfold.
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