Alert: Next phase in Montana Boat Registration Fees

On Thursday, February 6, 2003, John Gangemi, AmericanWhitewater Conservation Director, traveled to Helena Montana to deliver oral testimonyto the Montana Senate Fish and Game Committee. The Committee held a public hearing for Senate Bill287.  This legislation if passedwould require all canoes, kayaks and rafts to be registered at a cost of $8.50per boat.  American Whitewater alertedthe paddling community to this issue in January whilethe bill was still in draft stage. Similar legislation has been proposed for Connecticut.  

 

Take Action: Helpkill this bill before it leaves the Senate Fish and Game Committee

 

1. Residents and non-residents should contact each member of the Fish and Game Committee by phone, email, fax or letter stating your opposition to this registration fee.   American Whitewater has drafted a sample letter.

 

2. Non-residents should be sure to inform Legislators this fee would change your travel plans to Montana, you have other choices, and Montana will lose your tourist dollars.

 

3. Forward this action alert to every boater you know.

 

If passed this bill could set a precedent for similarlegislation in other states.  Yourletters can still help kill this bill at the committee level.  American Whitewater has drafted a list of key opposition points. 

 

Legislative ProcessAhead:  No Committee action was takenat the public hearing.  AmericanWhitewater’s objective at Thursday’s hearing was to kill Senate Bill 287 whilestill in committee.  Because Gangemi was not able to deliver testimony he is not sureall twelve members of the Senate Fish and Game Committee realize this bill ismisguided and inappropriate.  If the billgets out of committee, it will be heard on the Senate floor.  If it passesthe Senate, it will go to the House Fish and Game Committee where a similarversion was killed two years ago.

 

The Hearing:  Senator Mike Sprague, sponsor of thisSenate Bill and also chairman of the Fish and Game Committee, limited opposingtestimony to 25 minutes.   Because of thenarrow time constraint John Gangemi was not permittedto deliver his nine pages of testimony orally at the hearing.  Copies of the testimony were handed out toCommittee members.  Adding insult toinjury, Senator Sprague reserved more than ten minutes for a video aboutMontana Rivers.  This video provided noinformation to the members of the Senate Fish and Game Committee from which tomake an informed decision on this proposed Senate Bill.  Those speaking in favor of the bill claimedthe revenue was necessary for boater safety and education aswell as maintenance of existing fishing access sites in particular weedcontrol.  In reality, the bill containsno language specifically allocating the revenue collected to any of theseprograms.  Clearly, Senator Sprague did adisservice to his fellow Committee members by not allowing sufficient time forMr. Gangemi’s informative testimony.  

 

Key reasons for opposing boat registrationfee proposed in Senate Bill 287: 

 

1. Senate Bill 287 fails to include a budget dedicating specific funds to natural resource protection and non-motorized river recreation programs including safety, education and maintenance of river access sites.

 

2. Montana has not established a single agency with clear jurisdiction for managing river recreation let alone draft a Montana river recreation plan.  As a result it is premature to establish a revenue mechanism for a non-existent program lacking a management plan and associated annual budget.

 

3. Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, recipient of the registration fees, does not have staff with expertise in whitewater education, safety, and rescue.

 

4. Most or all revenue generated will be consumed by the cost of administration and what little remains will be consumed by enforcement. 

 

5. Ironically, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks convened a 22 member River Recreation Advisory Council charged with developing a guidance document for management of river recreation.  This draft bill was never presented to the River Recreation Advisory Council for input and review.  Ideally in the development of potential government regulations, if needed a management plan would be developed to resolve user conflicts and protect natural resources then the revenue mechanism would be tailored to meet the plan and the user groups being managed.  No research was done in the drafting of Senate Bill 287 to determine if the revenue mechanism actually targets the appropriate user groups that will benefit from a “management plan”.  Clearly, SB 287 does NOT benefit the whitewater boating community and further penalizes the angling community.

 

6. There is no estimate on the number of human powered watercraft meeting the bill’s definition and therefore no clear estimate of the revenue potentially generated.

 

7. Most of the whitewater boating in the state occurs in areas where the concept of a public boating area is unnecessary and obtrusive (the many creeks, trailheads, road crossings, pullouts, etc).  Simply put, most boaters would rarely benefit from their registration expenditure nor would they want that type of development along the river corridor. 

 

8. The few rivers that receive heavy use in the state already have access areas.

 

9. Registration numbers will not remain attached to kayak hulls very long because the boats are subject to heavy abrasion from rocks, trees and other objects found on rivers and streams.

 

10. Whitewater boaters typically own more than a single canoe, kayak or raft. As a result, they will pay a disproportionate share of boating fees as compared to the owner of a single, much more expensive powerboat.  There is also a high rate of turnover of whitewater boats that will make it difficult for either the owners or the administering agency to keep up with registration paperwork.

 

11. The bill will increase the operating costs for civic organizations, university programs, tour operators, commercial angling outfitters and whitewater outfitters.

 

12. Since very few states require the registration and numbering of canoes, kayaks and rafts it will create an inconvenience and added cost for paddlers visiting Montana. This will discourage paddlers from coming to the state spending money for campgrounds, motels, food and gas eventually causing a decrease in tourism revenues further impacting the state economy.

 

SenateFish and Game Committee Members

Senator	Committee Role	Home town	Email address
Senator Mike Sprague	Chairman	Billings	No address email provided
Senator Dan McGee	Vice-chairman	Laurel	dmcgee@state.mt.us
Senator Keith Bales	Member	Otter	BRI@RANGEWEB.NET
Senator Gregory Barkus	Member	Kalispell	GBarkus@Dadco.com
Senator Ken Hansen	Member	Harlem	HANSEN_KENNETH@EMAIL.COM
Senator Dale Mahlum	Member	Missoula	dmahlum@state.mt.us
Senator Trudi Schmidt	Member	Great Falls	trschmidt@state.mt.us
Senator Debbie Shea	Member	Butte	No address email provided
Senator Bill Tash	Member	Dillon	No address email provided
Senator Joseph Tropilla	Member	Great Falls	No address email provided

 

You can send letters directly to state legislators at this address.

General Legislature

Senator [Insert name]
P.O. Box 200500

Helena, MT 59620-1706

Voice: (406)444-3064

fax:406-444-4875

You can also call the legislative operator at 444-4800 and leavea message voicing opposition to Senate Bill 287 as proposed. The message willthen be forwarded to the Senator.

Sample Letter

 

 

[Insert Date]

 

Senator [First Name] [Initial][Last Name]

P.O. Box 201706

Helena, MT 59620-1706

 

RE:       Senate Bill 287: Bill to establish Montana Boater RegistrationFee

 

Dear Senator    [Last Name],

 

I urge you to oppose Senate Bill287 or amend the current language so that watercraft powered by paddle, oar orsail are exempted from the $8.50 decal registration requirement.  The bill is simply an attempt to generaterevenue for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks but promises nothing inreturn to the non-motorized paddling community. 

 

SB 287 parades as a revenuesource for maintenance of fishing access sites yet the bill contains nolanguage specifically dedicating a percentage of the funds for this purpose orany other program within Fish, Wildlife and Parks.  Furthermore, requiring “boaters” to shoulderthe burden for maintenance of fishing access sites assumes these sites are onlyoccupied by this user group.   Fishingaccess sites are utilized by a wide variety of shore and water based usergroups.  Most whitewater boaters alsofish.  As such, $1 of their fishinglicense fee is already dedicated to the acquisition and maintenance of fishingaccess sites.  For anglers this equatesto an additional fee to access Montanawaters.  In addition, private whitewaterboaters rarely if ever use the few fishing access sites on whitewater reachesbecause they are inappropriately located relative to the desired put-in andtake-out locations.   

 

Clearly, river runners and inparticular whitewater boaters will be taxed but receive no benefits.  Most importantly, this Bill will discourageriver recreationalists from coming to the statecausing a decrease in tourism revenues further impacting the state economy.This Bill is simply a funding mechanism with no clear management plan in placefor administering the funds fairly and equitably to those that are taxed. 

 

I urge you to oppose or amendthis bill so that canoes, kayaks and rafts are exempted from theregistration.   The bill was draftedprematurely without a management plan in place identifying the user groups thatshould fund the program as well as allocation of the revenue fairly andequitably. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

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