Ken Hayes, owner of Smith Mountain Wake Company, inspects wakesurfing boards at his Moneta store.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has denied an application for Smith Mountain Lake’s first no-wakesurfing zone. The unexpected decision comes just a month after the zone was recommended by the Tri-County Lakes Administrative Commission.

The no-waksurfing zone was approved by TLAC following more than a year of debates. It was designated for the Merriman Run area of Smith Mountain Lake marked with two buoys. Several current and former homeowners in the area came together to apply for the zone earlier this year.

The TLAC board approved the no-wakesurfing zone on Aug. 9 by a vote of 7-2. The recommendation was then sent to DWR for a final vote.

While no-waksurfing zones are new, TLAC and DWR have a long history of working together on the creation of no-wake zones. Traditionally, DWR has approved any no-wake zone recommendations from TLAC. This may be the first time DWR has gone against TLAC’s recommendation.

A statement was provided by DWR public information officer Paige Pearson last week on the decision to deny the proposed zone.

“A Virginia conservation police supervisor assigned to SML evaluated and provided an inspection assessment of the proposed location of the no wake surf zone buoy markers,” the statement from DWR reads. “After carefully considering TLAC’s recommendation, the assessment of the supervisor who completed the physical on-site inspection, and Department of Wildlife Resources administrative discussion, the request for the placement of these regulatory markers was not approved.”

Earlier this week DWR emailed a second statement with more details on the decision. The statement, provided by Pearson, said the primary goal of the DWR is for protection and safety of the public, and specifically, the boating public. 

According to the provided statement, DWR said that during an evaluation "concerns were noted with regard to the placement of the proposed buoys and the lack of a sufficient number of buoys to delineate the proposed zone."

DWR also noted there were other activities that contribute the the high level of wakes in the area. Wakesurfing was one of several activities that take place in the proposed area.

"The act of wake surfing, which is an activity best described as a wake board rider surfing behind a boat without the need for a tow rope is just one subset of boating related recreational watersports," the statement reads. "Related activities such as water skiing, water tubing and wakeboarding with use of a tow rope would remain unaffected by the proposed zone. Additionally, motorboats including those designed or modified to create extra-large wakes, could continue to operate without deviation so long as they were not specifically engaged in wake surfing activity. Therefore, the act of wake surfing, in and of itself, does not present any challenges which are unique from a public safety perspective and are not encompassed in other related activities which would remain permitted. As such, the prohibition of wake surfing would not have a significant impact with regard to public safety."

In the most recent statement, DWR also suggested a no-wake zone for the area instead of the no-wakesurfing zone. 

"Agency representatives believe that this area would be best served, and concerns more appropriately addressed, by moving forward with an application for a no wake zone. This would provide an all-encompassing solution, which would eliminate the wake generated by all motorboats operating within the area rather than the wake generated by a few motorboats specifically engaged in wake surfing activity."

TLAC has not provided any information on any next steps following the decision by DWR to deny the no-wakesurfing zone. TLAC Executive Director Kristina Sage emailed the statement: “We are taking the letter under consideration and continuing to work on these matters.”

Ken Hayes, owner of Smith Mountain Wake Company, sees the decision as win for local wakesurfers who are concerned the no-wakesurfing zones could negatively impact the activity on the lake. He said DWR made the right call.

“This is what I was hoping to hear,” Hayes said. “Kudos to DWR for doing a true evaluation.”

Hayes said that the decision shows that more work still needs to be done in figuring out how to best regulate wakesurfing at Smith Mountain Lake. “If DWR thought it was the right thing to do, they would have approved it,” he said.

According to Hayes, the decision provides the lake community with another opportunity to come together to educate the public on wakesurfing. Like many in the wakesurfing community, he believes little was done to educate the bad wakesurfers on the importance of being mindful of their wakes to lessen impact to people’s docks or the shoreline.

Hayes said the decision may also provide another opportunity to look at other culprits of larger wakes in recent years. He said TLAC should take a closer look at tow sports that are popular at the lake as well as the larger boats in general that can produce a larger wake.

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Ken Hayes, owner of Smith Mountain Wake Company, inspects wakesurfing boards at his Moneta store.