[LIforrelaxin]

This thread made my head spin. While I understand the two sides to all the arguments, so of the excuses, and some of statements made here are not fully evolved.

As it appears the flag Bill has been withdrawn, I am not going to discuss that issue.....

But I do want to talk a bit about the canoe / Kayak decal which has come up numerous times in the past. And it never seems to happen, much like the plan a few years back to make people get a decal for swim rafts. Most times bill like these are put in the docket to appease someone... They stir up a little controversy and then disappear. They would disappear quicker and more permanently if people argued correctly, but most often they do not. As is the case in this thread, boat registrations are brought up, the comparison is not apples to apples.

Yes at one time, NH didn't recognize out of state boat registration. Then NH got told if you don't fall inline with the Federal Government, you are going to loose federal monies. The federal government wanted full reciprocity between states on boating registration, just as had been done on other vehicles. However boats carry an unique stipulation, that you have to register them in the location where they are most often used. This was done to protect states like NH from loosing to much revenue. So with that bit of history aside lets talk about the registering of paddle craft.

Why does this get brought up. Well generally it is because the subset of lake users that paddle on the water ways, generally are not paying anything to do so, right wrong or indifferent. However if a kayak goes missing or ends up in trouble in the middle of the lake, the expect and rightfully so services from Fish and Game, or the MP. Many times when this subject comes up you find power boaters yelling and screaming that they have to pay to play, so why shouldn't others. What the state has to determine, is how much revenue do they gain vs. how much will the loose if they enact a fee on paddlers. The last time I saw this debated, it was a quick decision, that they would likely loose more room and meals tax money they they would gain fee money, because of such as use fee. At something like 9.5% meals and room tax it doesn't take long to get to 10 dollars......

Do the math think it through it just doesn't make sense...... If people would stop screaming about how unfair it is that paddlers don't have to pay anything, this would probably never come up again.