Boat Owners Association of The United States - BoatUS - is a non-stock  association with no stockholders, incorporated under the laws of the  District of Columbia. Members are listened to intently, and drive many  changes in BoatUS programs and policies, but do not have a “legal” say
in running the organization. The Association does not publish an annual  report.

BoatUS officers direct the Association activities. The officers are elected  by a Board of Directors and receive advice from a National Advisory  Council (NAC). The Board Members and NAC Members are listed below.  They can all be reached through the Executive Office, BoatUS, 880 S.  Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304. A minority of the BoatUS Board is employed by Boat America Corporation. Boat America Corporation has a contract with BoatUS to provide services to BoatUS and its Members,  including insurance, towing and boat financing. Boat America  Corporation is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, chaired by Warren Buffett.

Also affiliated with BoatUS is the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety  and Clean Water, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that is funded mainly  through voluntary tax-deductible donations from BoatUS members. It  also receives grants from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA and other   organizations. The Foundation’s annual report is published and available online at www.boatus.com/foundation/annualreport.htm.

The Association currently has two registered lobbyists on staff actively  lobbying in the federal and state arenas on issues that affect recreational  boaters. BoatUS does not have a party affiliation, but rather supports  any politician, regardless of political party, who advocates on behalf of  boat owners and their access to the water.

The Association’s lobbying activities are all directed at protecting or  enhancing the interests of boat owners. Some of its successes include  bringing boat manufacturers under regulation by the U.S. Coast Guard;  causing the passage of a boat defect law protecting boat owners; getting   Congress to revoke both the boat user fee tax and the subsequent tax on  diesel fuel for recreational boats; repealing the luxury tax on boats;  encouraging the FCC to waive their fee on VHF radios for recreational  boats; getting the Coast Guard to continue maintaining Loran; and, recently, encouraging the Coast Guard to drop it’s idea of creating a new  security ID for every boater. More currently, the Association action list  includes working to get EPA and/or Congress to reinstate a 34-year permit exemption for recreational boats that was intended to restrict  ballast water discharge from large commercial ships; and to work with the  Coast Guard to ensure that the national mandatory education standards  they are proposing are reasonable and feasible – among numerous other  issues facing the boater today.

BoatUS Board of Directors:
Richard Schwartz, Chairman
Bill Oakerson, CEO
Nancy Michelman, President
Mike Sciulla, Senior Vice President
Beth Newburger, President, Epoch Communications
Wolcott “Tony” Gibbs, Jr. (NAC, see below)
Elbert “Mac” Maloney (NAC)
John Bonds (NAC)
Jim Ellis (NAC)

BoatUS National Advisory Council:
Wolcott “Tony” Gibbs, Chairman, former editor of The New Yorker
and Yachting
John Bonds, Former Executive Director, U.S. Sailing
Senator John Breaux, Former U.S. Senator (D-LA)
Kris Carroll, President, Grady-White Boats, Inc.
Lenora Clark, President, Recreational Boaters of California
Dean Travis Clarke, Executive Editor, Sport Fishing and Marlin
magazines
Doris Colgate, President, Offshore Sailing School
Representative Robert W. Davis, Former U.S. Representative (R-MI)
Jim Ellis, Former President, BoatUS
Major John Fetterman, President, Nat’l Association of State Boating Law
Administrators
Chuck Hawley, Vice President of Product Information, West Marine
Charles Holmes, National Director, Sea Scouts/Boy Scouts of America
Charles Husick, Former President, Chris Craft Boat Company
Leslie Johnson, Past Chief Commander, U.S. Power Squadrons
Elbert “Mac” Maloney, Author, Chapman’s and Dutton’s
Admiral Robert Nelson, USCG (Retired), Vice Commandant, U.S. Coast
Guard
Gene Seibert, Former Nat’l Commodore, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Richard Schwartz, BoatUS Chairman and Founder