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192 W. Lakeshore Dr. Lincoln, NE 68528 |
The Nebraska Lakes Association is an organization dedicated to addressing the issues private lake associations manage. From boating concerns to environmental issues, the Association has a wealth of information to share with private lake residents and Lake Associations. If you need information about water quality, fisheries, insurance, lake liability issues and/or boating safety, you have a great reference organization at your service.
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Click on the following titles to read these messages Message from the NLA President -March 2003 Letter from the Shorelines Editor - September 2001 To subscribe to the Shorelines Newsleter, inquire @
The Nebraska Lakes Association Officers and Board of Directors welcome your inquiries. Please contact them at jmharse@alltel.net |
Director's Meetings are held at the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission in Lincoln, NE. The Management Conference and Annual Meeting will be held at Mahoney State Park. Additional meeting details will be posted. |
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Member Lakes
Nebraska Lakes Association Associate Members
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A publication of the Nebraska Lakes Association September 2001 Vol 2 No.4 Since I am coming to the end of my terms on the NLA Board of Directors, I would like to reflect a little on the past years. When I first volunteereed to serve I really didn't know what to expect, except I knew I wanteed to learn all I could about all the facets of developing, managing and maintaining a quality recreational lake. In this I wasn't disappointed. Being involved gave me a unique opportunity to get an education by networking with and meeting other interested lake people, the many vendors of lake services and state governmental entities and educational institutions working to give us a quality lake environment. The experience was a little bit of work and it took a little time that I will never miss. I thank my fellow directors that have served during my terms for building the foundation of an association dedicated to helping private lakes with regulations, safety issues, development, management, environmental issues and many other issues that lead to a quality lake experienc. Getting indivifual lake regulations wriotten in the State Boating Regulations, the Management Conference started in 2000, Shorelines and other communications with the membership, and being a united voice in legislative and regularoty concerns with governmental entities are a few of the things accomplished or started in the first five years of NLA. There will always be new concerns and much to improve upon. Get involved with your association. You will find it to be rewarding. Thanks for the opportunity! |
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as Published in the March 2003 Shoreline Newsletter Being the new president of any organization, large or small places a mantle of responsibility on the shoulders of the incumbent that is always a little heavy. Further, following Joanne Harse is not an easy task. Her influence was – and still is – great. The board of directors of Nebraska Lakes Association is certainly not a large group, but when you consider the number of member lakes and the population of those lakes, the number of people that are or can be affected by what we do it is formidable. I am not trying to inflate our importance – but I do want to keep it in perspective. Since I have been on the board I have been thoroughly impressed with the board members; their commitment and abilities. On the flip side I have been made acutely aware of the fullness of their schedules not including their voluntary NLA duties. This description fully applies to our new members, Bruce Christensen and Ken Fielding, VP. This observation has generated my first concern, as president, that we must focus on those issues which are important and which we have the capacity to handle effectively. Almost everything we deal with seems to fall into two categories; People Management and Lake Management. People Management is the legal side of operating a lake community with a SID/Homeowner’s Association. This would include everything from charters, covenants, bylaws, insurance, boating/water safety and enforcement of your local laws. Possibly most important, is understanding the legal liability board members have to their constituency, and that proactively may be the greatest deterrence to law suits and general griping amongst the community. Unfortunately, insurance may be one of those issues we cannot handle effectively, right now. I’ll explain at our seminar. Lake Management is what it takes to get and/or keep a lake clean and healthy. This too must be a proactive program. First, too many lake dwellers/users don’t see a lake as a living organism, which is insidiously and perpetually transforming itself into a eutrophic swamp. Consequently, the first step must be basic education about the natural aging of lakes. Then they can see the wisdom of the second step; a planned, long-term program to take the steps necessary to slow down this aging process – so they can enjoy their water and shoreline more, and for years to come. Within the resources of NLA we have a have a cornucopia of knowledge, talent and ability to share with the membership. Just tap into it! Currently there are two legislative bills on the floor the will have an impact on lake owners, LB 348 and LB 89. LB 348 proposes many changes to boating, boating safety and education. The bill is the legislative response to the tragic boating death of 17 year old Samantha Rader, last summer. LB 89 proposes changes to Nebraska Games and Parks functions in fish stocking and Lake Management and the roles of and Commercial Lake Managers. The subtleties of this bill may have some serious long-term consequences that are not readily apparent on first reading. You can go to the Internet to read the actual bills and track their progress through committee and the unicameral. Go to http://www.state.ne.us then type in the Bill Number e.g. 348 or 89 and just follow the menus. On this web site you can also find your state representative and a lot of other stuff. You can go to the many newspaper web sites to read about the progress of the bills, too. For example, Omaha World Herald: www.omaha.com. On the right side look for News Extras, and Your Legislature. NLA strongly supports boating safety and education and well managed lakes. However NLA is not a political organization; consequently, as an organization NLA is not going to take a stand to promote any specific political actions. We do enthusiastically encourage you to educate yourself and then strongly recommend you contact your state representatives to vigorously express your position on the issue. You may state you are a member of NLA, but must also add that you are expressing your personal opinion. In an effort to get information (i.e., LB 348 & LB 89) to our members as fast as possible – and at minimum expense – I am making a special appeal to you to send us your email address so we can put it in our files. The fastest way – just send me an email at Wthelin@jagwireless.net. Title the message NLA Email Address and, include your name, mail address, and Lake Name in the message. Mark your calendars for the NLA Annual Seminar Saturday, April 12th, 9am to 3pm. Meet our new members, the old ones, and renew your friendships with fellow lake dwellers. We’ll have some new speakers and we’ll be covering Lake and People Management. Talk with the Associate members and see how they can help you manage your lake and people. Lunch is included and so are the snacks. I am looking forward to meeting and talking with you. A lot is happening. Be on the cutting edge. See you the 12th. Woody Thelin, President
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