Check this out.

www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/mic...ban-plan/7976585002/

"The proposed order would prevent people in state parks...the state managed beach area"

Stop me when I'm wrong. Areas that fall under "proposed order".

- North side of Muskegon breakwall
- South side of Grand Haven breakwall
- North side of Holland breakwall

All other launches look to be county or township property. Don't even let them get this shit started. Get involved now, folks!

Please make your voice heard. This is just insane.

How to make public comments: Attend Thursday's 9 a.m. Natural Resources Commission meeting at the Okemos Conference Center, Comfort Inn Okemos, 2187 University Park Drive, Okemos, MI 48864.

Or submit written comments to the commission at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Natural Resources Commission, P.O. Box 30028, Lansing, MI 48909.

Here's my letter:
Dear Michigan Natural Resource Commision -
I would like to register my strong opposition to the proposed plan that would ban access by surfers, kayakers, kite-surfers and windsurfers to the Great Lakes during high wind and wave conditions.
I was born and raised in Michigan (on Coldwater Lake) and my favorite activities have always been water-based and non-motorized (swimming, sailing, windsurfing and paddleboarding).  Windsurfing is my activity of choice, and over the past 44 years I have travelled to the west coast, Hawaii and the Caribbean in search of strong winds and big waves.  I am a former lifeguard and know my abilities, and I know how to assess the conditions before I enter the water.
The friends that I windsurf with in the Great Lakes are very similar to me.  They are comfortable in strong winds and large waves; in fact these are the conditions we seek and will drive hours to find.
I understand the concern for the recent drownings in the Great Lakes.  Certainly there are situations where inexperienced swimmers are underestimating or even ignoring the danger level.  I would suggest that additional lifeguards and/or trained beach monitors would increase the level of safety and education at the same time.
I am hoping the commission will consider that there is a huge difference between the average beach-going tourist who wants to "play in the waves" and the surfer, kite-surfer or windsurfer who has spent years gaining the knowledge and skill required to handle the challenging conditions that the Great Lakes offer.  Please don't punish the people who are not the problem.
thank you for your time,

This looks like the proposal of an over-zealous administrator who knows truly little about the various activities of those using the lake.

Amongst all the Great Lakes fatalities in 2021 so far, I can only find one death that seemed to have happened while practicing SUP (Does that qualify as a wave/wind sport?) . Most deaths happened with people who either encountered unexpected circumstances, most likely did not check the local lake conditions or do not know what they are doing near a body of water altogether. This also happened to people on pleasure/fishing boats, walking on breakwater piers, and to simmers. It appears that the deaths are mostly happening with older folks and children/younger adults. To verify these "assumptions", one would need to look in more detail at the long list of reports - I just skimmed through...

For sure, my guess is that most were not wearing wetsuits or floatation devices.

Now, what is the motivation behind the ban, you could ask?
Could it be administrators with astonishing compassion who wants to do good to the community by preserving people from themselves?
Could it be administrators who have a mission to help cutting down funding/expenses for Cost Guards and other rescue services that must deal with lake incidents? (In that case, proposing adding to the payroll lifeguards and/or trained beach monitors will not be an appealing solution!)

If some intentions might be more commendable than others, the proposed ban is clearly over-reaching.

I will make my voice heard.

I know this is different, but at the Evanston Greenwood beach they commonly don't permit swimmers to enter the water on high wind/wave days (funny that I happen to be there on those days ), but wave you in to go sailing/windsurfing/paddleboarding/surfing/kayaking. They clearly recognize the difference. After the season was over and no lifeguards, I was at Clark St Beach once and felt I should warn a family to watch their kids closely as there was extremely strong counter-current, clearly unsafe for kids. Certain conditions there should not be swimming. Is it hard to ban swimming and allow watercraft?

Michigan making exceptions to weather-related swim ban
apnews.com/article/lifestyle-michigan-52...56f323d9334e1565c2cc

"Surfers, kite boarders and water boarders would be exempt from a proposed Michigan policy that would bar people from swimming at state beaches when waves are more than 8 feet high."

“We do have a public process and this is a result of us listening to them,” Ron Olson, the DNR’s parks chief, told The Detroit News. “We wanted to make sure this order didn’t constrict things that were unintended.”