Browsers that can not handle javascript will not be able to access some features of this site.
Skip Navigation

Printer Friendly Version Printer Friendly   Text Only Version Text Version  Share this page.
DNR's 'Wear It Michigan!' Campaign Promoting Life Jacket Use in Detroit This Weekend

Contact:  Lt. Andrew Turner 517-373-7109
Agency: Natural Resources


June 10, 2009

This summer the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is giving away more than 400 inflatable life jackets to boaters on the Detroit River and Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair who pledge to wear them at all times while boating.

This weekend, DNR conservation officers and their customized Zodiac patrol vessel are going to be at Tri-Centennial State Park and Harbor for the Red Bull Air Races. The schedule also includes the Freedom Festival Fireworks, June 22; the Gold Cup Hydroplane Races, July 9-12: and the Port Huron to Mackinac Race, July 23-26. The complete schedule can be found online at www.wearitmichigan.com.

The DNR's "Wear It Michigan!" campaign is a simple message to promote the value of life jacket wear by recreational boaters. The life jackets have been donated by the National Safe Boating Council and its boating safety partners across the U.S. and Canada.

"This promotion is our way of letting Michigan boaters know that it's important to always wear -- and not just stow -- life jackets on board one's boat," said Lt. Andrew Turner, state boating law administrator for the DNR's Law Enforcement Division. "More than 90 percent of the water fatalities recorded in Michigan could have been prevented if the victims had been wearing a life jacket."

During the DNR's "Wear It Michigan" campaign, special teams of state conservation officers will be out on the water in a specially marked "Wear It Michigan" boat asking boaters they meet to take the "Wear It" Pledge. Everyone who signs a pledge card will be entered in a weekly drawing to win a manual inflatable (Type III) life jacket that will have a "Wear It" rubber logo sewn onto the life jacket.

The DNR's report on the 2008 boating season in Michigan shows 36 fatalities in 31 fatal accidents statewide. Of those, 28 people drowned. Only two of those boaters were wearing life jackets.

To learn more about the "Wear It Michigan" campaign, visit the DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr and click on the "Wear It Michigan" button on the front page.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources
for current and future generations.

Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors
Related Content
 •  College Goal Sunday Helps Students, Families File for Financial Aid
 •  State Mentoring Programs Celebrate Impact of Mentoring at Capitol
 •  Unemployment Insurance Agency Makes Jobless Benefit Statements Available Online
 •  Secretary of State gathers six tons of food for Michigan's hungry
 •  DNR Western Upper Peninsula Citizens' Advisory Council to Meet Jan. 30 in Delta County
 •  Chiropractic Office Receives Environmental Loan
 •  Spring Turkey Licenses on Sale Now Through Feb. 1
 •  Meet Civil War Soldiers and Learn About Daily Life and Pastimes of the 1860s at the Michigan Historical Museum Jan. 21
 •  Voter registration deadline nears for February presidential primary
 •  Holiday enforcement results in more than 300 drunk driving arrests
 •  General Motors, LLC - Flint Assembly Plant earns Clean Corporate Citizen award
 •  Complete Streets Advisory Council to meet Jan. 25
 •  Michigan DNR Acquires 280 Acres in the Manistee River Watershed
 •  New citizens offered opportunity to register to vote after naturalization ceremonies
 •  Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Announces Specialty Crop Grant Opportunity
 •  Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program Recognizes 75 Years of Wildlife Conservation and Partnership Success
 •  Schuette Announces Charges for Fraud Against Disabled Consumers
 •  Nominations Sought for 2012 Governor's Service Awards
 •  State Police Offers School Liaison Training for Law Enforcement; Officers Encouraged to Participate in Recognition of Mentoring Month
 •  Planned road improvements to help Cobo keep North American International Auto Show in Detroit

Michigan Locator

Search any location for State government services, state parks and recreation, or educational entities.

Michigan Weather Radar


Michigan.gov Home | Help & Contacts | Site Map  | Disability Resources | Foreign Languages | State Web Sites | Awards | Office of Regulatory Reinvention
Accessibility Policy | Privacy Policy | Link Policy | Security Policy | Michigan News | Michigan.gov Survey

Copyright © 2001-2012 State of Michigan