Name:   Capt M Brooks - Subject:   My Post From 6/25/2009 Date:   7/16/2012 9:44:55 PM

The Alabama Marine Police is the permitting agency in regard to the restriction of any portion of a public body of water to Idle Speed Only/No Wake. It is our responsibility to mark such zones and maintain the buoys around State-owned public launching areas and facilities.

If an individual or a group of individuals wishes to make an application for the restriction of a portion of a public body of water to Idle Speed Only/No Wake then they need to contact our office at (256) 329-2268. We will discuss the application process and forward an application to that person. Once we receive the completed application, our officers will inspect the location to see if it meets any of the criteria set by our policy for approval. If approval is granted for the restriction, then the permit-holder is responsible for purchasing, placing and maintaining the buoy(s).

In order to meet the criteria, the area in question must contain a public launching facility where any member of the public may launch a boat free of charge (AND/OR) must contain a gasoline dispensing facility (AND/OR) must present a paramount risk to public safety as determined by the reviewing officer(s).

That being said, it is the duty of the Marine Police Division to safeguard public waters for the use of the entire general public. The overwhelming majority of applications are denied due to the fact that the area in question does not meet our criteria for approval. Under the public safety consideration, we use the number of complaints regarding the area, the number of accidents or incidents that have been reported there and our own observations of traffic flow to make our decision.

People should also keep in mind that there are currently a number of Idle Speed Only/No Wake Buoys on the lake that were placed by private citizens that have not been permitted. When we identify such a buoy we remove it from the lake once we have the time to do so.

The Marine Police Division does not permit Hazard Buoys but all Hazard Buoys must be approved for placement by us. We also place and maintain some buoys. We work very closely with the Lake Martin Resource Association on the placement of other Hazard Buoys. The LMRA bears the costs for the placement and maintenance of such buoys and provides us with the GPS coordinates of every such buoy on the lake. These folks really are to be thanked for their hard work at keeping boaters on Lake Martin safe.

A number of people place "swim buoys" or mooring buoys off the ends of their docks. We don't have a problem with this as long as these buoys don't interfere with the normal flow of traffic for the slough and are not placed more than 25-feet from the end of the dock.