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 Kissimmee River Valley Sportsmen's Association receives national award for boating access success.
---NEWS FROM BOAT US----
When pigs fly. A snowball's chance in hell. These colorful expressions have accurately portrayed the odds for success that communities have often faced when trying to improve access to the water for recreational boaters. However, with the announcement of the five 2009 BoatUS Recreational Boating Access Award winners, there is proof that naysayers can be overcome. By learning from these winning examples, communities across the U.S. can succeed with their own waterfront access plans and begin to enjoy the economic benefits that boaters bring to merchants, restaurants, and service providers.
Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) created the award program in 2007 to highlight successes in protecting water access as boaters and communities were losing marina slips, service yards and boat launching areas. This year's winning projects-in Oregon, Florida, and Ohio-offer a range of innovative solutions for communities to keep their waterfronts open to boaters, anglers, and citizens.
At Kissimmee Lakes FL: Stopping the Freight Train.
In Florida, Kissimmee River Valley Sportsmen's Association (KRVSA) was able to stop and turn the "train" around, literally at the last minute, when it saved critical public boating access of Lake Kissimmee in Central Florida. On the day the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) was set to transfer Shady Oaks Fish Camp and the Speight Family Ranch to a bif developer-who had no future plans to offer public boating access-KRVSA intervened and stopped what everyone though was a done deal.
Instead, after spirited discussion, SFWMD agreed to set aside 136 acres of waterfront property from the ranch and provide $1 million for launch and site improvements. The District agreed to cede the property to Polk County, which initially balked but later agreed to accept the land and maintain the property as a county park. When completed next year, the 136-acre Shady Oaks parcel will provide second publicly owned vessel launch facility on Lake Kissimmee, and will include campsites, vessel launch facilities and other amenities for a diverse group of users. To top it off, KRVSA backed an effort by the Florida Airboat Association to have Florida state policy changed, so that "surplussed" lands bought with tax dollars cannot be sold to any private developer until government agencies have decided not to accept them.
For information on the annual awards as well as a look at the projects and winnder including photos and video, visit www.BoatUS.com/gov/AccessAward/
"Fighting To Keep Our Waters Navigable"
This is more than just a slogan with the KRVSA - It's what motivates us. At the core of our belief is that the public waterways should remain open for public use. This is a fight we carry on not just for ourselves, but just as our fathers taught us about the great outdoors in this river valley, so to would we like to teach our sons and daughters about the wonder and beauty of the great outdoors.
We not only fight to keep our waters navigable from a legal standpoint, we fight every day HANDS ON by picking up trash, bringing in what we took out, offering rides to news reporters and other special needs people, and many other ways. Every year (around the beginning of April) we host our Annual Lake Cleanup at Camp Mack where hundreds of people and airboat clubs from around the state gather together and remove TONS of trash from the River area.
 KRVSA not only active in the community, we are made of folks who are active citizens. Everything from being active in scouting, Churches, local politics, to small businesses and beyond - KRVSA members are some of the movers and shakers of our local society.
The Kissimmee River Valley Sportsmans Association is not limited to just the Kissimmee river - Any waterways in our state are of interest to us. We are based and mainly focus on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, but that by no means is the limit of our interest and what we fight to protect.
We FIGHT to keep our waters navigable and clean so that future generations can enjoy the same priceless life experiences that we have enjoyed for generations.
If you are not a member, we invite you to join our efforts and if you are a member - well, you already know.
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