More on Idaho

[JohnScott]

Golly, Folks -

$5.00 will get you .... hmmmmmmmmm ..... what will it get you ??

$10.00 will get you ..... hmmmmmmmmmm .... two of the above.

$20.00 will get you ..... hmmmmmmmmmm .... four of the first item, whatever it is.

Spent $24.13 for one dinner ( Dallas fillet and a Sam Adams ) plus tip at the I. F. Texas Roadhouse a couple nights ago.

That would pay the fees on my nonmotorized vessel, if I had one, for almost five years.

That would pay the fees on a resident motorized vessel for two and a half years.

That would pay the fees on a nonresident motorized vessel for something over a year.

Here's an idea - skip your latte for a few days, eat in one night you were going to eat out, watch a movie on TV instead of going out to one, or just skip the popcorn and soda at the theater, and help reduce, or eliminate, the invasive stuff none of us want in our Idaho waters. You might even try smiling about it while you are at it.

John

P.S. Eric - practice makes perfect. Idaho doesn't have much practice at passing laws. Which way do you really want it ??

P.S.1 Lighten up folks - don't take this all so seriously. Or I won't be able to take your new bamboo or Sage z-Axis or even that great deal on an Albright too seriously !!

[Eric-WD]

John, that is a good question what does it get you???

In my eight years living in Idaho, I was never stopped by fish and game, never had my licence checked, never saw a fish and game officer on the water. In fact the only time I for sure saw any employee of fish and game was in my Idaho Falls and Lewiston Toast Masters Clubs, there was an officer in each of those clubs. And at the college welcome fair each year where they had a booth looking for volunteers etc.

This legislation as stated in the last line of the law was looked at as emergency legislation, AKA we have to do something. The something that they did was create a user tax, OK I can live with that. But where the rubber hits the road, I doubt if I spent the summer in Idaho if I would ever see anyone enforcing this law. The people of Idaho are going to have to keep there legislature honest or this will just be another tax.

Eric

[MTwormchucker]

The dollar amount is beside the point John.

There's something inherently wrong in charging non-resident owners of legally registered vehicles/vessels a toll or usage fee of any kind.

From http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/...s/boating.aspx

Vessels properly registered in another state and on Idaho waters for 60 or fewer consecutive days

are exempted from paying ID registration fees-

So instead of blowing their registration reciprocity out the window, they flipped the fund and "fee" over to the Department of Agriculture- http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/...eciesfund.aspx and call it a "sticker fee".

I pay $65.50 to tag my 10.5' Skykomish with a motor on it in MT , and another $61.25 to tag the trailer I haul our pontoons on.

*I* pay to support Montana's FWP and DMV, *you* can boat here for free if you're legal in ID.

In Idaho, my Skykomish would be $20 and $5 for the trailer, but my MT tags are good so I've got to kick in another $20 for a "sticker".

Who exactly is paying for who's infrastructure here?

[JohnScott]

...In my eight years living in Idaho, I was never stopped by fish and game, never had my licence checked, never saw a fish and game officer on the water. In fact the only time I for sure saw any employee of fish and game was in my Idaho Falls and Lewiston Toast Masters Clubs, there was an officer in each of those clubs. And at the college welcome fair each year where they had a booth looking for volunteers etc....

Eric -

I've had a very different experience with Fish and Game folks - administrative, non-enforcement, and enforcement people - than you have.

I've been checked or seen enforcement officers checking others on the South Fork any number of times in the six years I've been fishing there.

I visited regularly with the young fellows who did creel counts on the South Fork for the several years that F & G conducted those surveys over the past six years. I've been on the creel survey's jet boat and watched those guys in action. Good people doing a good job.

I've run into F & G guys on the lower Silver Creek, on the Little Lost, and on Birch Creek, I believe it was. They were from places like Hailey, Arco, and Mud Lake.

I had the good fortune to work with a F & G survey team electroshocking the Henry's Fork between Chester Dam and the Fun Farm, and have run into them on the Little Lost doing the same work.

At the last Snake River Cutthroat Club meeting ( referenced above ) one enforcement officer in attendance quoted the statistics on citations on one SE Idaho reservoir for one week end.

A F & G employee helped me get started fishing here in SE Idaho. The same guy tied the fly that I caught my first fish on a fly rod with. I could go on about some of my other experiences with these folks - all good experiences with good guys.

Maybe the point is that there aren't really as many of them as we would like. Maybe the fees across the board ought to be higher.

I'm not worried that we are not getting what we are paying for. I'm more concerned about what will happen if we don't get the enforcement we need. A friend of mine reported seeing a worm dunker ( probably one of those critters from Utah, Joni ) take four browns and two cutthroats out of the South Fork a week or so ago - that's four more fish and two more cutthroat than is legal. Maybe with some additional enforcement people ......

John

[Wild One]

Interesting discussion guys.

Does anyone have any idea what they're doing about Bear Lake? Are you ok if you launch from the UT side, but not ok if you want to launch from the ID side if you don't have the sticker? This is a bit off topic, but curious as to if anyone has heard how that falls.

[troutdancer]

I can tell you if launch from Oregon side of the Snake River below (Hells Canyon Dam) you can fish with either a Oregon license or Idaho license. If you park your boat and are on shore fishing, lets say (Oregon) side you need to have an Oregon license. You can be parked on either side staying in your boat and fish, you can have either states license. I would think it would be the same for all bodies of water with borders? I think it would be the same for boats to? Idaho,Washington,Oregon all have the Snake River for a border.
I think the Idaho F&G is strapped just like everybody else. I've been checked by IDFG in the central Idaho high country, miles from any roads. On week a day, good thing I had my license with me.
We all need to help out our states, and take good care of our inheritance.

[RS1]

The point is the price. And non resident's getting stuck with mo' money, mo' money, mo' money to pay.I have nothing agains G&F Dept. But this is not the G&F, it's Parks and Rec. I talked to Damon Keen and he didn't know hardly anything about it a couple weeks ago. He said Henry's Lake got a GRANT for some "steam" cleaners to help clean off the boats before they launched. At the hatchery, Wild Rose, Fromes, and the state park launch. I'm not sure about the Cliffs.
Now non resident (yearly) licenses in Idaho are $86 each. Next year, will probably go up to $96. So on top of that, you have to spring for another $20 for an invasive species sticker if you have a boat over 10' and motorized. (5 buck if not)

(Utah implemented a 365 day license a few years ago. You buy in June, it's good until next June. To me that's worthwhile whether you're a resident or non resident. It's too bad that Idaho won't think about doing something like that.)
It doesn't matter about a damn sticker. It won't stop zebra mussels or didymo or any invasive specie from coming into Idaho. Like said before, it's just a matter of time. Migratory birds have a way of 'dropping' bombs that start the ball rolling.
And the idiotic thought of giving the job of selling the invasive species sticker to the parks and rec? Come on politicians, brilliant, straight thinking homegrown folk. Right Sen. Craig?

[Fly Goddess]

John......with all due respect, it is NOT the $20. IT IS THE 10'+ THING!!!!!!! A float tube can bring these....felt soles can bring these....Birds Can bring these.
What is the difference between a 10'+ and a 9' boat!!!!!!!!!!
If they are going to CHARGE to keep these SPECIES in check, they need to CHARGE EVERYONE!!!!!!!! ANY SIZE TUBE/TOON...ANYTHING THAT ENTERS THE WATER!!!!!! and then figure out how to get the money and where to put the sticker on the BIRDS!


You are missing the point of my thread.

Nothing wrong with the idea, just the way they are going about it!

[maodiver]

Where my dad fishes in San Luis Obispo County, CA, the local lake officials wire the boat to the trailer, with a special seal. As long as you fish in those lakes, they cut the wire, then rewire every time with the seal. You don't have to be inspected as long as the wire is intact.

[Fly Goddess]

JOHN!!! GIVE UP MY LATTE!!!!!!!!!NNNNNEEEVVVEERRR!

But in all seriousness, Idaho has done some damage to outside waters also.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/...OM+IDAHO-a0129202844

http://mudsnails.com/

http://mudsnails.com/mudsnail_resources.html


To ensure clean waters is impossible, but I do respect and support any attempt to do so.
In this case, they need to stretch out allot farther than 10+' boats. John, even you clients shoes/waders. This should INCLUDE everything that touches the waters.
Maybe they will come up with some HUMAN STEAMERS before you can enter the rivers and a neat little sticker for that.