BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water President Chris Edmonston was recently appointed to several prestigious boating and fishing organizations. Formerly a member-at-large of the National Safe Boating Council, Edmonston has accepted the position of Vice Chair. The Maryland native also received an appointment to the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators’ (NASBLA) Education Standards Panel. Additionally, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) made Edmonston a member of its Board of Directors, and he also was appointed as an alternate board member to the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council.

Separately, BoatUS AVP of Government Affairs Ryck Lydecker was reappointed as a member of the full Council by Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar.

These roles continue to keep the BoatUS Foundation and the half million BoatUS members at the center of the issues, ensuring that recreational boaters’ voices are heard when critical boating safety, waterway conservation and recreational fishing matters are debated.

The role of the National Safe Boating Council is to promote safe and enjoyable boating through education, training and shared resources, and it is widely known for its “Wear It” life jacket campaign and annual National Safe Boating Week activities.

NASBLA’s 15-member Education Standards Panel sets the standards for all of the organization’s boating safety courses across the country. In an effort to achieve consistency with course content, NASBLA established the National Boating Education Standards Panel. It’s charged with overseeing the boating safety course standards issued by the American National Standards Institute.

The non-profit Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation is charged with increasing participation in recreational angling and boating, and protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF helps people discover, share and protect the legacy of boating and fishing through national outreach programs including the Take Me Fishing campaign and Anglers’ Legacy.

A federally chartered advisory committee, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council advises the Interior Department Secretary, through the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on recreational fishing and boating issues. Its goal is to “conserve, restore, and enhance the quality, function, sustainable productivity, and distribution of aquatic resources that support and increase recreational fishing opportunities nationwide, and to increase public awareness of the importance of aquatic resources and the social and economic benefits of recreational fishing and boating.”