WHEREAS, on average, 600-700 people die each year in boating-related accidents in the U.S., and approximately 75percent of these are fatalities caused by drowning; and

WHEREAS, the vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error or poor decisions, and not by the boat or environmental factors; and

WHEREAS, a significant number of boaters who lose their lives by drowning each year would be alive today had they worn their life jackets; and

WHEREAS, today's life jackets are more comfortable, more attractive, and more wearable than styles of years past and deserve a fresh look by today's boating public;

NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim May 16-22, 2026 as

National Safe Boating Week

and I urge all boaters to "Wear It MAINE!" and to learn and practice safe boating habits.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this eleventh day of May Two Thousand Twenty-Six