Hi All, Many of us for many years have paddled in the Thousand Islands and other US-Canadian border areas. The party is over folks! Check out the following press release! Failure to follow the rules has not been indicated, but I bet it won't be pretty! Chuck Sutherland ------------------------------- Subject: U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS FOR PLEASURE BOATERS Date sent: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:52:34 -0400 Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District=09 DHS USCG BANNER <http://www.piersystem.com/clients/uscg-13/DHSUSCGBanner.gif>=20 Press Release =20 Date: April 21, 2005=20 Contact: PAO Mike Milne, Customs and Border Patrol=20 Phone: (206) 553-6944 Ext. 614 U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SECURITY ENHANCEMENTS FOR PLEASURE BOATERS SEATTLE - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has implemented enhanced security procedures for small boats arriving in the United States from Canada. The new private boat clearance procedures are part of CBP's comprehensive efforts to enhance security at our nation's borders. Private boaters will be required to report to specified ports of entry for inspection if they are not currently enrolled in a "trusted traveler" program. Only boaters participating in the I-68 or NEXUS/SENTRI programs will be allowed to report their arrivals by phone. Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) issued under the old Small Boat Reporting System are no longer valid. Participation in the trusted traveler programs requires the payment of a fee and passing a background check by CBP and Canadian authorities.=20 Participation in the I-68 program requires each applicant to appear in person for an interview at a Customs and Border Protection port of entry. Fees are $16 (US) for an individual or $32 (US) for a family. U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, Canadian citizens and Landed Immigrants of Canada who are nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries are eligible to apply for I-68 seasonal boating permits. Private boaters are encouraged to apply BEFORE attempting their first trip to expedite the border clearance process. "These new procedures allow CBP the ability to carry out our twin goals of preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States, while at the same time facilitating legitimate travel and trade," said Thomas Hardy, Director of CBP's Seattle Field Office. "Those boaters enrolled in our expedited travel programs will reap the benefits of our call-in inspection process." The Pacific Northwest is one of the busiest international boating areas in the United States. These new procedures are designed to augment a myriad of security enhancements implemented by CBP at our borders since the terrorist attacks on America on 9/11/01.=20 Details of the new private boating international clearance procedures are outlined in the attached FACT SHEET. Boaters are encouraged to contact their nearest CBP office with questions regarding these new enhanced security procedures for boaters. Please refer to <http://www.CBP.gov/> www.CBP.gov for the listing of the nearest CBP office. For information on the NEXUS program, please refer to www.nexus.gc.ca. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Ouch! This won't affect me personally, since I drive across the border before launching; however, it will probably affect anyone who wants to enter the Quetico from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I just hope the authorities don't insist on searching through my kayak and camping gear each time I cross, though. I wonder how it will affect cross-country skiers on the border? Years ago when I stayed at Gunflint Lodge with the North Star Ski Touring Club, we thought nothing of skiing across Gunflint Lake to ski a trail on the Canadian side of the lake. Of course, skiers not being boaters -- even though they can travel over water -- maybe the new regulation doesn't apply to them -- yet. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I live on the Canadian shore of the St. Lawrence River, in the Thousand Islands area. For 60 years I've paddled, rowed and sailed over the river, ignoring the boundary line, and as long as we didn't land in the U.S., there were never any problems. Last summer, on an evening paddle, 8 of us were paddling in U.S. waters about 500-600 metres (550-660 yards)from the U.S. shore (the river is about 2000 metres wide here). I was having some shoulder problems so one other paddler and I had just started heading back toward the Canadian side when a U.S. border patrol boat approached the other paddlers and asked if they were U.S. citizens. In age our group ranged from 50 to the early 80s and did not appear threatening to me, unless you worry about men in neoprene skirts. When my friends explained that they were all Canadians and were just out for a paddle, there were told to get back into Canadian waters then the patrol boat escorted them all the way back, just to make sure that they did. This is a big and recent change in attitude. A few years ago the regulations were tightened in regards to landing in the U.S., but we've never had problems paddling on the U.S. side of the river, well away from shore. By the way, in this area there is nothing on the U.S. shore except a few cottages, a couple of houses, and one park. John skimmer_at_enter.net wrote: > Hi All, > > Many of us for many years have paddled in the Thousand Islands and > other US-Canadian border areas. The party is over folks! > > Check out the following press release! Failure to follow the rules > has not been indicated, but I bet it won't be pretty! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Several years ago I did some research on paddling the international lakes in the BWCAW-Quetico area. The Canadians insisted that Americans should stay on the American side of the lakes, but when I asked an American customs agent about it, he replied that his agency only cared if Canadians went ashore on the U.S. side. BTW, the 19th-century Webster-Ashburton treaty, which set the present boundary between the U.S. and Canada, gives citizens of both countries the right to use the customary portages along the border regardless of which side the portages fall on. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
About 18 years ago my friend Eric and I drove a University owned van across the Detroit-Windsor border to pick up a crew from UBC and SFU who were attending a conference at our school. We were wearing suits (and mirrored shades) that we thought made us look exectutive. We probably looked more like low-level mob enforcers. The UBC-SFU gang were, as usual, wearing t-shirts and levis. Customs stopped us and quizzed us for perhaps 20 minutes as we attempted to convince them that this was not a van full of migrant farm laborers, despite their appearance, or European refugees, but a group of skilled technical staff from two Canadian Universities. We were finally admitted into the country, and just as we started to pull away from the customs booth, Dave (last name omitted) yelled from the back of the van, in a thick Irish brogue, "Uncle Huey! We got ye in!!" Eric gunned the motor and we disappeared into the downtown Detroit traffic. mike -------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://foldingkayaks.org http://findascope.com http://kittysaysmoo.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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