Canoes, kayaks, and other non-motorized boats could soon pay $2 more to go on Idaho rivers and lakes. The cost of an invasive species sticker for non-motorized boats would increase from $5 to $7 under legislation approved by the Idaho Senate Tuesday. The cost of a sticker for out-of-state boaters would rise from $10 to $20.
The money would pay for the state’s invasive species program, which is trying to prevent quagga and zebra mussels from entering Idaho waters. Sen. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, said the higher fees would continue the boat inspection program that started last year. “It works so far and we’re going to continue to make that work,” he said. Corder said raising fees could prevent the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), which runs the program, from relying on state general fund dollars to pay for some inspections.
Senators approved the fee hike on a 21-14 vote with some vocal opposition. “I have an objection to raising a fee when we really have no track record,” said Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls.
“It’s true that we don’t have a track record, but we don’t have mussels,” Corder told Mortimer. The ISDA estimates Idaho could need to pay up to $90 million to clean lakes and rivers if the invasive quagga mussels are found. The current inspection process costs less than $3 million.
Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said his local Boy Scout troop was affected by the fees for its canoes, so he opposed raising the price of those boat stickers. “That’s something that I wish had been a component of the legislation and that we shifted things around a little differently,” he said. The legislation would provide a discount for licensed outfitters with more than five boats without motors. The legislation also would create a $3 replacement sticker in case a boat’s original sticker is lost or destroyed.
The proposed fee increases now head to Gov. Butch Otter. Read IdahoReporter.com’s story on the House passage of the fee hike. The text of the legislation is available here.
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UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
So these mussels come from out of state and so as a result I’m going to pay a higher fee even though I don’t use my boat out of state! Gosh, I’m so glad you guys meet 3 months out of the year!
pretty cheap price to pay to keep Idaho waters natural, need some pythons or anything else exotic from the east!!!
I have a canoe that gets used about 2 or 3 times a year. I haven’t bought a sticker and won’t. Anybody know what the penalties would be?
Very small price to pay, cost is a lot more to get them off a boat, not to mention all the other equipment/infrastructure that would get impacted below the waterline. From the Boy Scouts website “Scouting promises you the great outdoors. As a Scout, you can learn how to camp and hike without leaving a trace and how to take care of the land. You’ll study wildlife up close and learn about nature all around you. There are plenty of skills for you to master, and you can teach others what you have learned.” Is this not part of taking care of the land?
Ericn:
$57, according to ISDA.
That’s $50 more than a sticker. Lawmakers are also working on legislation that could increase enforcement and inspection.
don’t mussels clean water?? the only people who don’t want mussels are dam and irrigation people. They dam our rivers and take the water only to make us pay for the cost of cleaning of the messes they make. i don’t get it.
Chris, the legislation is designed specifically to prevent mussels that are invading species, from entering Idaho.
You can learn more at the Department of Agriculture’s website on invasive species.
Brad, I watched said video and read said link. Mussels clean water that is dirty! If the water is clean they don’t thrive. They damage dams, irrigation water systems, and personal boats. Like the link says. You can’t stop the mussels from coming. They are like people. they breed by the millions. When the mussels clean the water of the food supply, they will die out! It is the dams and power boaters that make a bigger mess then mussels. Again, they dam our rivers and steal the water and make the most river friendly people pay (non motorized boaters). How much does over spill of gas into Idaho lakes/rivers cost the tax payer Idaho? I still don’t get it.
Chris, you’re right about some of the damages caused by mussels.
ISDA says that quagga mussels also damage the ecosystem of the water:
Also, motorized boaters will pay for stickers that will go to the invasive species fund.
Right, everything eats something that something esle eats too. Got it. But the damns, irrigation systems, and power boaters kill more of all that stuff (zooplankton and phytoplankton)as it is. The same groups (damns, motors, and irrigation) have created the environments that allow these mussels to “posibly” thrive in Idaho waters. The Idaho water ways are NOT natural any more. The mussels are coming like it or not. No one can find a mussel egg in a bow line!!! So, answer me this Brad. Way should I (a whitewater rafter) alow damns and irrigation companies to benefit from this tax and polute water, raise water temps, steal the water, block rivers and (this list goes on and on) and I get to pay the bill for thier clean up? If it is ever needed. Where is the sticker money going now? I still don’t get it.
Christopher:
As to your last question, the fees for invasive species stickers goes to the invasive species fund, which pays for ISDA to operate stations that inspect and clean boats.
its to bad that the state of idaho has to come to these programs for water safety. but the time is here and stand must be taken now. i worked at an inspection station last year in rogerson id,our traffic was from nevada going north. comments from boaters being stopped at our checkpoint were very favorable for this program and amazed that there was no fee for the inspection. several boaters from neighboring states traveling to Idaho waters told stories of fees imposed at boat ramps for inspections use of the ramps in and out of the water before they launched. we are not in this position yet– so lets keep Idaho as clean as possible
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Interesting ideas!