Here in Wyoming we are being nickle and dimed to death with the latest being a required invasive species decal on any boat longer than 10 ft or so.
That means my sit on top kayak, my Pontoon boat and my car topper Gheenoe all have to have the decal. were they a foot or two shorter they wouldn't but in it's infinite wisdom Wyoming Fish and Game saw fit to write it this way???? They charge an extra five bucks if you even use an electric motor and they do have to be registered if you use that motor. I wouldn't mind if we really had a problem or possible problem with invasive species but to date that's not the case. For one thing, here in Wyoming our reservoirs are just that and since the irrigators own the water they fluctate wildly much more than the twelve feet or so the Zebra and Quagga Muscles need for survival as I understand it. This is a several times annually thing and effectively kills much of our warm water fishing (spawning requirements and flow) as well as some cold water species also. Besides that here in this state we likely have dozen or more wade fishermen using felt soled waders to every boater so again I have to conclude that this state is greedy, ignorant or both!

In the not too distant past just the Fed Govt required registration if you used your boat on any water under their jurisdiction such as tidewaters, navigable rivers, national Rec areas, etc. Then it slowly started spreading as states saw an opportunity to soak willing sportsmen and women. I checked into it 15 years ago or so, with the U S Coast Guard, which was the office of primary responsibility originally for the regulation and they laughed when I told them I'd been ticketed by an overzealous County Sheriff on the Tillamook for running a small Jon Boat using the smallest of electric motors. The Coast Guard officer in charge pointed out that the reg was originally written for motorized craft such as those big ships, etc that use Elec thrusters, etc.

The original state regs requiring boat registration were fairly reasonable and were designed to add a bit of extra money to be used for boat ramps, wake damaged shorelines and docks, enforcement and other big boat use problems, but most certainly not for car toppers, poontoon boats, canoes, etc. This latest nonsense is strictly greed and building a bigger bureaucracy.

I do not mind at all when my sportsman dollars are being used appropriately but this latest rash of nonsense, in my mind, has me steamed! What say you is this a good or bad trend and what might be done about it? I have talked about this and the apparent problems with these regulations as high as the second in charge here with Wyoming Fish & Game to no avail. Any suggestions?