Iowa requires registration of kayaks and canoes. I believe the actual registration is left up to each county, that each county sets its own fees, and that paddlers from non-registration states are expected to contact the appropriate Iowa county and register. Every craft is required to exhibit all the 3" federal numbers plus a large sticker, so that one has at least 23 stick-ons plastered all over the boat. Enforcement rests with local DNR agents. The law magnanimously exempts replicas of Native American craft from displaying the numbers, but the DNR interprets that to mean your canoe must actually be made from birchbark or your kayak from sealskin! If you come from a non-registration state, these onerous requirements are certainly an impediment. Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
to my knowledge, New york has no such requirements (and if it does, I don't want anyone to tell me about it!) Joan On Fri, 26 May 2000 22:39:19 -0700 Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com> writes: > I have not been able to sort out the specifics, by state, of > registration which > have been reported here so far, but I am curious what the pattern > is. If folks > respond re: what their state does, I will make a summary and report > back on my > findings. > > A. Does anyone know which states **require** registration of > paddlecraft (aka > sea kayaks and canoes). > > B. For those states which **do** require registration: > > 1. How much is the annual fee? > > 2. What is the "return" for registration? IOW, does the > state devote some > funds to paddlecraft launching sites or marine trails or somesuch? > Or, is > there no clear return? > > (Note: the claim which I think one state makes that registration > makes it more > likely a stolen craft will be returned is bogus: those numbers can > be removed > easily. The boat ID number is a better ID, and on my yaks, removing > the > number requires damaging the surface of the yak -- a clear > indication of a > stolen boat.) > > -- > Dave Kruger > Astoria, OR > ************************************************************************* ** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author > and not > to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > ************************************************************************* ** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>A. Does anyone know which states **require** registration of paddlecraft (aka >sea kayaks and canoes). Pennsylvania -- required for human powered craft including rafts. New Jersey - reguired for boats over 16 ft. Optional below that. > >B. For those states which **do** require registration: > > 1. How much is the annual fee? PA - $12 every 2 years (Actually $5 per year but additional is issuers fee.) NJ - Don't know, offhand. > > 2. What is the "return" for registration? IOW, does the state devote some >funds to paddlecraft launching sites or marine trails or somesuch? Or, is >there no clear return? PA Supposedly so, but there is little if any evidence that something is being done. Rangers in that state have a noticeable record of harrassing paddlers. > >(Note: the claim which I think one state makes that registration makes it more >likely a stolen craft will be returned is bogus: those numbers can be removed >easily. The boat ID number is a better ID, and on my yaks, removing the >number requires damaging the surface of the yak -- a clear indication of a >stolen boat.) Pennysylvania also makes that claim. The registration number is NOT what they base the claim on. You must supply the hull ID on the registration application. Re: removing the hull number... some manufacturers will do that for 2nds or blems, so it is not prima facie evidence of a stolen boat. PA also requires presentation of a bill of sale or else a serious looking affidavit for the boat... Mainly they're interested in determining whether you paid or have to pay the PA sales tax. > >-- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dave Kruger wrote: > A. Does anyone know which states **require** > registration of paddlecraft (aka sea kayaks and canoes). > > B. For those states which **do** require registration: > > 1. How much is the annual fee? > > 2. What is the "return" for registration? IOW, does the > state devote some funds to paddlecraft launching sites > or marine trails or somesuch? Or, is there no clear return? > The main reason that boat registration is so attractive to state governments is that states obtain Federal funding based on the number of registered boats within the state. Depending on how enlightened the state agencies are, this can be real positive for paddlers - as Andy Knapp reports in Minnesota - or a real negative, if the increased funding is put into the state coffers as general revenue to be used to fund DNR programs - as is the case in Illinois. The Illinois DNR claims that it has made these funds available for Human Powered Watercraft (HPW) launch sites, but the way that the program works in Illinois is that some governmental entity (city, county, park district, etc.) must request funding, which is granted on a percentage basis. Unless paddlers can interest a governmental body in requesting these funds - and spending some of the local government money - the funds remain invisible to paddling clubs. The state also benefits in that the registration law makes it possible to enforce the payment of sales tax - even for cash sales between individuals. Principles aside, the boat registration cost is minimal - in Illinois it's $13 for a first-time registration, which is for a three-year period, and then $6 for subsequent three-year registrations. The fine for not registering your boat is $75, so it really doesn't pay to protest the registration law by not paying. A big problem area is in registering home-built boats, or boats that have no serial numbers. I've heard stories of the registration process being drawn out to great lengths in such cases. Another bureaucratic requirement is that the seller of a registered boat is supposed to inform the DNR of the sale, in order to keep the paperwork straight - and to enable the collection of another sales tax. The Illinois law does not require the registration of out-of-state boats, unless the home state has a registration law. I live in NW Indiana, where registration is not required, and have been waiting (hoping?) to get stopped by a conservation enforcement officer in Illinois - just for the amusement factor. But this hasn't yet happened in the 13 years since the registration law was passed. OTOH, one of my paddling buds got *two* tickets for non-registration before he finally broke down.... I was president of the Chicago Whitewater Association when the Illinois boat registration law was passed, and was an active participant in fighting the Illinois boat registration law. Copied below is a summary of what happened in Illinois. This account was written as part of an exchange I had last year with an Alaskan whitewater paddler who posted on r.b.p. asking about boat registration - apparently the Alaskan legislature was considering the introduction of a "Boating Safety Law", which Dave Seng reports was recently passed. ~~~~~~~~~~ Begin Account of Illinois Boat Registration: The paddling community in Illinois found out about the requirement to register HPW *after* the law was enacted in 1987. The state Dept of Natural Resources (DNR) responded to a rash of power boating accidents in a popular boating area (The Chain of Lakes in northeastern IL) by rewriting the Boat Registration and Safety Act law to increase the penalties for operating a power boat while drunk. The provisions to require HPW registration were an afterthought, and were included without any input whatsoever by the paddling community, although the DNR said it made 'every effort possible' to involve the paddling community. These new requirements prompted a sense of outrage, which was the catalyst that brought together the coalition of paddling clubs to fight this law. Our major points were that: a) the passage of a law without input of the group that it affects amounted to 'taxation without representation' b) that the income from the newly enacted provisions was not being returned to paddling community in the form of new access sites or other programs beneficial to paddlers c) that the expected income from the program would not cover the administrative expenses. We found sympathetic legislators who introduced virtually identical bills in the House and the Senate for exempting HPW from the boat registration requirements, and also found a lobbyist that hoped to position himself as the spokesperson of the paddling community (and so worked for little to no $). We published articles in all the paddling club newsletters asking that paddlers write letters to their legislators, the DNR, and the local newspapers. We drove to the State capitol more than once to testify at legislative committee hearings, to meet with DNR officials, to meet with the House and Senate Majority leaders, and to lobby before the big votes. In one of the meetings with the DNR, we proposed to the DNR that IF they would provide an accounting of monies generated from HPW registrations, and would agree to fund paddling-specific programs, we would cease and desist in our opposition of this law. Our pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead, the DNR introduced two bills into the legislature in an effort to sidetrack the momentum that building for the paddler-friendly bills. In the end, four bills were introduce into the legislature - two by the paddling community to repeal the HPW registration requirements, and two by the DNR in an attempt to provide some concessions while still requiring boat registration. The concession were for exempting non-profits (scouts, church camps, etc.) from registration, and doing away with the requirement to display 3 inch numbers on HPW. One of the paddler bills was killed in committee, but the other one made it through the House and the Senate (by 90+%votes), largely on the virtues of the 'taxation without representation' argument, as well as the argument/question of "What's next? Registration of bicycles?" After making it through the House and the Senate with overwhelming votes, the Governor vetoed the bill. The attempt to override the veto garnered only a 40% vote (60% was needed to override) - no doubt the result of some heavy duty lobbying/politicking on the part of the DNR. The DNR bills were approved, so the final registration law exempts non-profits, and doesn't require the display of 3 inch numbers on a canoe or kayak. See http://131.230.57.1/stat_rul/ILLREG.HTM for the text of the Illinois Boating Safety Law (it's interesting to note that sailboards are exempt from registration requirements). Hope this helps, Erik Sprenne *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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