GLIN==> Press release: Great Lakes-wide Cross Border Recreational Boating Tips Available

PRESS RELEASE: June 2009
Contacts:  
Dave White, New York Sea Grant, 315-312-3042
Eleanor C. Mariani, NABA, 860-434-8638
Brian Kempf, New York State Boating Law Administrator, 518-474-0445
Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, Inc., 315-646-1000
 
Great Lakes-Wide Cross-Border Recreational Boating Tips Now Available
 
Oswego, NY ­ To facilitate the most current understanding of Canada-U.S.
cross-border travel requirements, including proper forms of identification
for person and vessels, New York Sea Grant and the Northern Association of
Boating Administrators (NABA), with assistance from U.S. and Canadian border
crossing officials, have published the 2009 Great Lakes Cross-Border Travel
Tips for Recreational Boaters.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative deadline of June 1, 2009 has
arrived for travelers to have officially recognized documents for
international border crossings. The 2009 Great Lakes Cross-Border Travel
Tips for Recreational Boaters include:
·      A list of acceptable personal identification documents
·      Contacts for ports of call in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, including 20 ports in NY and 5
in PA 
·      Boat trailering and boat safety information sources
·      Know Before You Go and Customs information resources
·      Contacts for applying for a NEXUS card (a form of ID for trustworthy
travelers)
·      Travel/vacation information sources for 8 Great Lakes states &
Canada.

New York Sea Grant Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White says, ³This
multi-agency partnership has developed a Great Lakes regional resource to
help the boating public access the most-current information they need to
easily cross between our nations. We want boating travelers to know all
their options for having the proper identification to facilitate their
crossings.²

The model for the Great Lakes-wide resource is the Cross-Border Travel Tips
for Recreational Boaters, RV Owners & Motorists Traveling the Great Lakes
Seaway Trail published by New York Sea Grant and the nonprofit tourism
organization Seaway Trail, Inc., Sackets Harbor, NY, since 2002. The Great
Lakes Seaway Trail is the federally-recognized America¹s Byway and National
Recreation Trail that parallels the 518 miles of St. Lawrence River, Lake
Ontario, Niagara River, and Lake Erie shoreline in New York and
Pennsylvania.

³Having seen the impact of the Seaway Trail edition of the Cross-Border
Travel Tips, the Northern Association of Boating Administrators (NABA) is
excited to see the expansion to the Great Lakes-wide edition, which includes
many of our member states. This brochure will greatly assist recreational
boaters from both countries cross the border, thereby enhancing the
enjoyment of their boating experience,² says NABA President Eleanor C.
Mariani. ³We are pleased to be a partner in this.²

Seaway Trail, Inc. President and CEO Teresa Mitchell says, ³These
Cross-Border Travel Tips are designed to encourage our Canadian neighbors to
continue to visit the U.S. for an authentic experience of American life,
history, and culture along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail freshwater shoreline
and westward. Cross-border visitors bring welcome and needed dollars into
our regional economy.²

Both editions of the Cross-Border Travel Tips are maintained online for easy
updating and as-needed printing. The Tips are found online at
www.nysgextension.org. # # #

More Info/Fast Facts for Cross-Border Travel Tips:
Who/When:  2009 Great Lakes Cross-Border Travel Tips for Recreational
Boaters ­ first published in 2009 by New York Sea Grant and Northern
Association of Boating Administrators. Cross-Border Travel Tips for
Recreational Boaters, RV Owners & Motorists Traveling the Great Lakes Seaway
Trail - published by New York Sea Grant and Seaway Trail, Inc, Sackets
Harbor, NY, since 2002
 
Why: The Tips are designed to facilitate international travel, vacations,
and enjoyment of Great Lakes region/Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway
recreational, historic, cultural, and natural resources; with resulting
positive tourism-based economic gains
 
How:  The Tips are maintained and updated online at www.nysgextension.org.
 
Recreational Boating Economic Impact Research:
New York Sea Grant commissioned the first study of recreational boating on
New York State¹s economy in 2003. At that time, Cornell University
researchers concluded that the average per boater expenditure was:
·      $1,090 for NY¹s Lake Erie
·      $902 for Western Lake Ontario (Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne
counties)
·      $2,133 for Eastern Lake Ontario (Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson counties),
and 
·      $1,541 for the St. Lawrence River.
·      Statewide, recreational boating activity supported 18,700 jobs.
 
The full report on Recreational Boating Expenditures in 2003 in New York
State and Their Economic Impacts is online at
http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/marina/pdfs/BoatingReport-FINAL.pdf
 
Scuba Diving Economic Impact Research:
According to a 1999 New York Sea Grant study, scuba divers add more than
$108 million in annual economic impact to New York¹s Great Lakes Seaway
Trail region. 
 
Recreation and Tourism Specialist David G. White of New York Sea Grant,
Oswego, NY, says ³Efforts such as the Dive the Seaway Trail project, New
York State Blueway, and the Cross-Border Travel Tips published by New York
Sea Grant with Seaway Trail, Inc. and the Northern Association of Boating
Administrators are facilitating access by Canadian divers interested in
exploring the fantastic underwater resources and submerged heritage
preserves of the Great Lakes region.²
 # # #
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