News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 10, 2005

ODNR AWARDS MORE THAN $362,000
IN BOATING SAFETY EDUCATION GRANTS

	2005 ODNR Division of Watercraft Boating Education Grant Recipients
	County	Recipient	Amount
	Ashtabula	Ashtabula Education Center	$9,625
	Athens	Big Brothers/Big Sisters	$14,000
	Clermont	Clermont Soil and Water District	$11,160
	Cuyahoga	Rocky River Power Squadron	$18,750
	Cuyahoga	Greater Cleveland Boating Safety Council	$14,000
	Cuyahoga	Bay Village Schools	$7,325
	Cuyahoga	Cleveland Metro Parks	$18,200
	Cuyahoga	Cleveland Sight Center	$10,890
	Darke	Miami Conservancy District	$18,975
	Delaware	Central Ohio Safe Boating Council	$13,956
	Fairfield	Central Ohio Boating School	$9,300
	Franklin	City of Columbus Parks & Recreation	$11,450
	Franklin	Columbus Outdoor Pursuits	$13,373
	Franklin	YMCA of Central Ohio	$26,179
	Franklin	Direct Instructional Support Systems	$5,650
	Hamilton	Ohio River Way	$6,250
	Lake	Spirit of America Foundation	$20,750
	Lake	City of Mentor	$6,240
	Lake	Lake County Metro Parks	$21,600
	Lorain	U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 09-02	$13,525
	Lorain	Lorain Education Service Center	$17,750
	Lucas	Toledo Power Squadron	$8,125
	Lucas	Toledo Hospital	$2,705
	Miami	Miami County YMCA	$2,840
	Montgomery	Moraine Fire Department	$14,363
	Ottawa	WSOS Community Action	$8,073
	Richland	Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District	$7,790
	Richland	Mohican School, The Out Of Doors	$6,125
	Sandusky	U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 10-03	$4,187
	Summit	City of Barberton	$4,530
	Summit	Akron Power Squadron	$14,000
	Tuscarawas	Mineral City Elementary School	$925

COLUMBUS, OH – A total of $362,611 has been awarded to 32 organizations across the state to conduct and promote safe boating education programs this year, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Watercraft.

The annual grants assist local community organizations in increasing boating education and helping young boaters meet the provisions of Ohio’s mandatory boater education law.

Grant funding for boater education programs is provided through the state’s Waterways Safety Fund, which is supported by a portion of the state gasoline tax, watercraft registration and titling fees, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

State law requires anyone born on or after January 1, 1982 to successfully complete the Ohio Boater Education Course or other boater education courses that are approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. About 9,000 Ohioans successfully completed an approved boater education course in 2004, more than half of which were required to do so because of their age.

The Division of Watercraft, U.S. Power Squadrons, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the U.S. Coast Guard and other boating partners will offer more than 450 boating education classes this year statewide. Additional information on boating education and other recreational boating programs can be found online at ohiodnr.com or by calling 1-877-4BOATER (877-426-2837).