Nebraskaland Magazine
Locations from Valentine to Scottsbluff are included in the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s statewide effort to offer boating safety courses. The courses are offered by choice of home-study or as a six-hour classroom session.
Nebraska law requires any motorboat operator, including drivers of personal watercraft, born after Dec. 31, 1985, to complete one of the two types of boating safety courses and be in possession of a course certificate. Operators must be 14 years old to drive motorboats and personal watercraft in Nebraska.
The home-study course is titled “Option B” and the six-hour classroom course is labeled “Option A.”
Option B requires participants to download and study materials online before attending a three-hour review and test-out session. Option A offers all certification requirements in a classroom environment.
Course dates across the region (all are Option B unless otherwise noted):
- April 25, Scottsbluff
- May 4, Bridgeport
- May 12, Sidney
- May 16, Alliance (Option A)
- May 21, Chadron
- May 21, Scottsbluff
- May 28, Valentine
- June 15, Bridgeport
- June 16 and 18, Scottsbluff (Option A, three hours each night)
- June 20, Alliance (Option A)
- June 23, Sidney
- June 27, Scottsbluff
- July 13, Bridgeport
- July 14, Sidney
- July 18, Scottsbluff
A $10 fee applies to most classes. To attend a boating safety course in Alliance, register with the Alliance Game and Parks office at 308-763-2940. For all other classes, register with Scott Eveland at scott.eveland@nebraska.gov or 308-289-0017.
More classes will be added throughout the spring. For the most updated listing and for classes at other locations in Nebraska, visit the Boating Education calendar at www.BoatSafeNebraska.org. The site also has other information about boating safety.
