Opinion No. Oag 35-90, (1990)

CARROLL D. BESADNY, Secretary Department of Natural Resources

You ask whether parts of 1989 Wisconsin Acts 159 and 324, which delegate authority to municipalities and public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts to charge boating fees, violate the provision in Wisconsin Constitution article IX, section 1 that navigable waters "shall be common highways and forever free . . . without any tax, impost or duty therefor."

New section 30.77 (3)(e)1., Stats., as repealed and recreated by 1989 Wisconsin Act 159, effective April 19, 1990, provides:

30.77 (3)(e) Notwithstanding the…