New AIS law

[James_R]

"Other new AIS laws will be instituted July 1, 2012, as a result of the new legislation:"

This is only the beginning folks. The floodgates are open.

[snowfighter]

Wonder how they are going to address the out of staters whos come up with there own boat.

[Scott K]

What a joke!

[TruthWalleyes]

Awesome...

[Grum]

Let the games begin, err continue...

So let me see if I got this straight. We the taxpayers are paying the salaries for these Lawmakers who have wasted countless hours and resources designing and producing a sticker and a law, but before it even began they abolish it in trade for another more complicated program with a new sticker that has NO penalty for noncompliance?

I think the only sticker program they should be concerned with is the one that reads "I Voted"

[Scott K]

I am not a huge fan of the stiffer penalties either. For the average Joe that can hardly afford his fishing license, this would be a great way to stop him from getting another one next year. But, I guess they can always increase the cost of licenses next year to make up for those they scared away. Oh well, more room on the water for me I guess, well, until I give it up as well!

[WallEYES]

Just heard from a good source this new law has been overturned and no longer be required....anyone heard any different?????????

[Sonicrunch]

I am not a huge fan of the stiffer penalties either. For the average Joe that can hardly afford his fishing license, this would be a great way to stop him from getting another one next year. But, I guess they can always increase the cost of licenses next year to make up for those they scared away. Oh well, more room on the water for me I guess, well, until I give it up as well!

The average Joe can hardly afford a fishing license?

[harvey lee]

Fishing licenses are about as cheap as they can get.

Seems many were very against the decal program so now we have it even worse than before. Got rid of 1 decal and seems we have it worse than before. Makes sense.

They could raise the fines triple as far as I care as I am not going to have to pay one.

Whata a real waste of funds is all the money they spent on the decals and now you can throw them away. Mine will stay where it is as it would be a bigger pain to remove it.

Don't have time to remove any decals as I now have to take a test online.

Now this is getting a little crazy.

[harvey lee]

I am not a huge fan of the stiffer penalties either. For the average Joe that can hardly afford his fishing license, this would be a great way to stop him from getting another one next year. But, I guess they can always increase the cost of licenses next year to make up for those they scared away. Oh well, more room on the water for me I guess, well, until I give it up as well!

I really doubt that the increase will scare many if any away from fishing due to the small increase.

I pay way more for non res licenses that this increase. If a person could not affords the license increase, then they would have to quit fishing as the gas price would have already forced them to quit.

[Kyhl]

I agree with Scott on the increased fines. If anything, this may deter a CO from writting a ticket. People can easily get over a $50 boat plug but $100 is a little tougher to swallow and may curb ticket writing.

Basically detering penalties.

[amateurfishing]

great little info segment bout AIS on Linders Angling Edge, i learned more

[BobT]

Harvey, I agree completely with your last two posts. Despite my opposition to the sticker in the first place, I too will leave my sticker where it is for the same reason you mentioned.

[Alagnak]

The whole thing is a joke. Good thing some of u guys with nothing better to do sat in line for an hour at the DMV so you now have that sweet sticker to make the AIS free zone around your boat. ;-) Our state is not whizzing away money at all eh? Trust everything is getting spent wisely huh? What a big stupid money suck hole nanny state joke. Stay hot MN, stay hot. The state should at least make sure it has toilet paper before it takes a massive dump but that would require common sense.

[LightningBG]

I wonder if I have to put my new super sticker on my snowmobile trailer, as every once in a while I toss a canoe on there? And sometimes my parents pull their paddle boat out of the water with their lawn tractor & trailer! Put a sticker on the Deere?

[James_R]

A lot of gullible people out there who seem to think that any new wildlife or conservation taxes and regulations will make our outdoors experiences better. They just assume that the DNR will make rational adjustments to these new yet flawed laws later on and use their increased funds in an efficient manner. How many times are you guys going to fall for this stuff? That extra $5 fishing license tax that some of you fought so hard for was just wasted on hundreds of thousands of stickers (All rejected now) that some of you believe have magical powers to keep weeds away and a class that teaches us how to pull our drain plugs. This kind of stuff does wonders to grow gov budgets but makes the rest of us poorer and less free.

[Brad B]

here is a link to the Press Release from the DNR

http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2012/05/04/a...-effect-july-1/

why even have the online course and decal if the penalty for non compliance is only a warming. since this goes into effect in 2015 I hope we can get a change in the legislature and they repeal this whole thing and the roadside checks too. I am fine with license fee increases as long as the money stays in the dnr account and used for the specific area the money came from (ie: money from fishing license fees stay for fish stocking and managagement and not other programs)

[FM_Mike]

If I am reading the new law signed by the Governor the cost for this AIS law is being charged to the non residents license fees. As I read 5.00 was added to non resident fishing license to pay for this.

I may have read the bill wrong, but thats how I interpreted it. I have emailed my local DNR office on how this test and new sticker after taking the test is going to work with out of state boaters and fisherman. Maybe someone else has asked and has the answer.

If this is confusing to residents, imagine how confusing it is to non residents. If my brother and his family come up with a boat, canoe, and jet ski, does he have to take the test 3 times to get the stickers needed. I wonder if the DNR has the correct answer or have thought the process through.

Mike

[loadmaster]

Saw the same thing in the Duluth paper. What a waste of money to print and distribute something that is not required. It was a scramble in the Duluth area just to find the no longer needed sticker. What the heck, they will have extra money to waste with the Lic fee increase. Was wondering the same thing about out of state boats. What happens when a person on a whim, decides to come to Mn to fish. Is it ticket time or a warning and a ticket for residents?>>>>later the load

[Brad B]

If I am reading the new law signed by the Governor the cost for this AIS law is being charged to the non residents license fees. As I read 5.00 was added to non resident fishing license to pay for this.

I may have read the bill wrong, but thats how I interpreted it. I have emailed my local DNR office on how this test and new sticker after taking the test is going to work with out of state boaters and fisherman. Maybe someone else has asked and has the answer.

If this is confusing to residents, imagine how confusing it is to non residents. If my brother and his family come up with a boat, canoe, and jet ski, does he have to take the test 3 times to get the stickers needed. I wonder if the DNR has the correct answer or have thought the process through.

Mike

read the press release. once a person takes the online course they can get multiple stickers for each trailer that is used to transport water recreation equipment. so one for your boat trailer and if the jet ski has its own trailer you can get one for that also without having to retake the online course. canoes wouldn't need this since normally they don't have a dedicated trailer for them but then if they would have a trailer then they would need this on that trailer also. Be glad Minnesota didn't do like Ontario did. up there people now need to have passed a boaters course that meets their requirements. if you don't have this they will ticket you with a $250.00 ticket for failure to comply.

[reinhard1]

Mike as you have probably seen i was a supporter of boat landing checks and could live with the stickers. it's obvious to me that this sticker issue was not thought out completly. i guess i should not be surprised. after spending over 60 grand of taxpayer money and then just throw it in our faces is unacceptable to me. at the very least they should of kept any stickers not distributed and held on to those to pass out after this stupid and outrageous testing proposed in 2015.

i read it the same way with the non-resident licence fees. it used to be 2 bucks for the AIS deal now it's 5 bucks. we have time now as anglers who feel that enough is enough and express our concern to the DNR and our reps that they scrap this testing before that gets screwed up as well. good luck.

[Long Gray Line]

I come off the lake, drain the leech container and refill it with clean water because I don't want to throw away perfectly good bait. Now, some overzealous sheriff or DNR enforcement officer sees the bait bucket and writes me a ticket for not draining the container. I complied with the law but can't prove it unless I video my water changing????? Or am I interpreting the law incorrectly?

[Maverick]

I come off the lake, drain the leech container and refill it with clean water because I don't want to throw away perfectly good bait. Now, some overzealous sheriff or DNR enforcement officer sees the bait bucket and writes me a ticket for not draining the container. I complied with the law but can't prove it unless I video my water changing????? Or am I interpreting the law incorrectly?

Yes. Rules of law don't change. They would need to prove that you didn't change the water. Direct observation a report from an eye witness or other means of probable cause would be necesary to write a ticket and then if you contested the ticket they would have to provide evidence in court that you didn't comply with the law. Of course you could let paranoia run wild and assume that they want to ticket you even though you followed the rules.

[raymondk]

The only time my leeches touch lake water is when they are on a hook.and they are kept in a small container which I keep in refrigerater which I put in a small cooler with ice when I go fishing no reason to use lake water or to change when leaving lake...............

[Desperado]

no reason to use lake water or to change when leaving lake...............

no reason EXCEPT ... it's the law that you're supposed to change the water when leaving the lake (even with the way you do it)

I agree, it's asinine, but that is the way the law reads