[Paddlewise] Registration Fees

At long last, I have gotten around to summarizing the input you all made re: 
registraton fees your state demands for kayaks or other small paddlecraft.  I
apologize for the long delay.  Extended comments in [] were volunteered by the
source named after the state name.

Alaska (Seng):  Newly enacted fee:   $10 per boat for a three year period. 
Boats under 10 feet are exempt.  Motorized craft are $24 for a three year
period.
[There is no clear direct return stipulated in the legislation, but there is a
phrase in the bill that makes me wonder if the underlying reason for the bill
is to get more federal money - Paragraph 1 line 7 - "at least 75 percent of any
federal funds generated as a result of this Act be used to fund a statewide
boating safety and education program,..."  The url for any fellow Alaskans
interested is:
http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/boating/hb0108g.pdf ]

California (Myers):  No fee.  See http://www.dmv.ca.gov/faq/boatfaq.htm for
infomation about California boat registration.

Illinois (Sprenne):  Fee (new):  $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.   See http://131.230.57.1/stat_rul/ILLREG.HTM
for the text of the Illinois Boating Safety Law.

Indiana (Boyd):  No fee.

Iowa (Qajaq303):  Fee:  $6/2 years (varies?  see below)
[Kemmer: 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!]

Louisiana (Hebert):  No fees.

Maryland (Bliven):  No fees.
[MD.. no regristration fee presently... however a well known environmentalist
with ties to a very powerful and well funded Politacal Action Group is
advocating boat fees. His view has appeared in newspapers and I have heard a
local politician say that the PAC view is often adopted by the state. the
claim is that the fees will give paddlers a 'larger voice' in state gov and
help fund things like watertrails.

Some MD counties have fees for use of boat ramps. in other counties, public
boat ramps are free to cartopped boats.

One paddle club has vocal members that support all kinds of government
regulations... including manitory wearing of PFD's and cold weather gear.]

Massachusetts (Olsen):  No fee.

Michigan (Boyd):  No fee.

Minnesota (Culpepper):  Fee for each paddlecraft, with reciprocity with other
states requiring registration;  Full details at: 
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/boating.html

Knapp added:  [Here are a few more points about the Minnesota registration law.
there are both plusses and minuses to the way it's set up. The registration is
$7 for three years for canoes and touring kayaks; however, there is currently
an 
added $5 fee for all watercraft to fund the Eurasian Milfoil (a nuisance 
waterplant spread by powerboat props) cleanup and enforcement efforts. 

The $7 portion goes to a dedicated fund that has actually resulted over the 
years in a several thousand-mile network of access points and primitive 
campsites on over a dozen of the state's non-technical rivers. Excellent maps 
of these routes are available from the Minnesota DNR. These are a very 
underutilized resource and an excellent alternative to the crowded BWCA canoe 
wilderness for those who can figure out how to do a shuttle. The funding also 
provides for a staff person who has put in many hours of work on the Lake 
Superior Water Trail of Minnesota, a 150-mile section of the Lake Superior 
coastline.

Unfortunately, the law also requires that watercraft not registered by other 
jurisdictions must obtain a Minnesota license before being used in the state- 
and this includes the BWCA and the Lake Superior Water Trail. Many irate 
out-of state visitors have run into trouble because of overzealous 
enforcement of this provision. Recently, the DNR has made it much easier to 
obtain the licenses from local parks, etc. but it still has a negative impact 
on our tourism image.

The bottom line: if you can't prevent your state or province from licensing 
paddlecraft, make sure the money goes into a dedicated fund.]

New Hampshire (Noyes):  No fee.

New Jersey (Pylka):   Fee;  amount unknown.

New York (Joan Volin):  No fee.

Ohio (Boyd/Lammers):  Fee:  $20/3 years.

Oregon (Kruger):  No fees.

Pennsylvania (Stauffer):  No fee except: in State Park waters and for use of
Fish and Boat Commission ramps.
[State Park registration: $10 per year
Fish & Boat Commission registration: $10 every two years.  In addition, 
they attempt to collect sales tax (6%) on boats purchased from an 
out-of-state dealer.  If you bought the boat from an individual, they do 
not attempt to collect sales tax unless the boat can accept a motor.
On many of the big rivers, there are few launch facilities that are not 
owned or run by the fish commission.  They tend to be the most convenient 
facilities and offer a fairly safe place to leave your car.  For 
non-motorized craft, the park registration offers an alternative to the 
state registration covering only state park lakes but there is no tax 
collection associated with it.]

Pennsylvania (Pylka):  Fee: $12 every 2 years (Actually $5 per year but
additional is issuers fee.)

Texas (Lammers):  No fee, with some local exceptions.

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

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