Retiree Steve Taylor, of Cabot, former operations director at PPG, brings his boat in prior to a storm at the 528 boat launch at Lake Arthur Wednesday afternoon.

Pennsylvania contains within its borders more than 85,000 miles of rivers and streams as well as thousands of acres of lakes and flatwater.

Because many people explore those areas in boats and watercraft, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources promotes national Safe Boating Week by sharing safety tips that water travelers can utilize the entire year.

And while the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission teaches boating regulations by having boaters obtain a Boating Safety Education Certificate, Safe Boating Week is another opportunity to promote the importance of following guidelines.

“We want everyone to be able to safely enjoy our state park lakes and waterways this year during boating season,” DCNR secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a news release.

In Butler, many boaters take their craft to Moraine State Park to cruise on Lake Arthur, and the staff of the park also promote safe boating throughout the entire year.

Mike Shaffer, environmental education specialist at Moraine, said boating-related fatalities at the park almost always involve a victim who was not wearing a life jacket.The Fish and Boat Commission also reports that about 80% of recreational boating deaths are due to people not wearing a life jacket.“That life jacket does save lives,” he said. “Everybody must have a life jacket, and it must be their size and fit them. It should be kept in arm's reach, and they should be able to put it on before something bad happens.”Shaffer also said boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs is forbidden in any circumstance because of the risk involved.This common sense tip, Shaffer said, has been ignored by some in the past, which can result in fatalities.“You never want to boat under the influence,” he said.

Shaffer said in addition to the hundreds of boaters who visit the park, many more people visit to kayak on Lake Arthur. Many of the same conditions for safe boating apply to kayaks as well, with the exception that it doesn't require a license to pilot a kayak on the water.“It doesn't matter what you do, you have got to be safe out in the water,” Shaffer said.Moraine offers courses for safe boating and safe kayaking at the park regularly to help people get acquainted with both boating regulations, and the conditions of the lake itself, Shaffer said.“We just want everybody to be safe and have a good summer, and even a good year,” Shaffer said.The fish and boat commission's website lists all the requirements necessary for boaters to operate watercraft in Pennsylvania waters safely and lawfully.