Oregon Invasive Species permit

TyBoo

TyBoo

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Staff member
There is a big sign on the highway coming into Warrenton saying that boaters are required to have an Oregon Invasive Species permit. The nearest I can tell the permit costs $5 for power boats and is included in the registration costs even though my registered boat has not been inspected. You can also pay for and print out a permit online without having an inspection. Watching this video it appears that there will be random roadside and launch ramp inspections. The intent is good, but it looks like it might be a hassle. The web site doesn't really clear things up in my mind unless I am just not getting it. I have looked at the site a couple other times and it has changed since the last time with new and less/more/modified info. Does anyone have this figured out yet?
 
On a brighter note, I just bought my 2012 fishing license and it only came to $83. That got me the resident angler license, combined harvest tag, hatchery salmon tag for 10 additional clipped fish, and the shellfish permit. Sheesh. I am glad I don't hunt and need that license too.
 
Lookie what I found.

What about boats from Washington or Idaho?

Boats from Idaho that have an Idaho Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention sticker do not need an Oregon permit if boating within the mainstem of the Snake River.
Boats from Washington do not need an Oregon permit if boating within the mainstem of the Columbia River.
Manually powered boats from Washington or Idaho may launch in Oregon tributaries within ONE RIVER MILE of the Columbia or Snake rivers (common interstate boundary waters) without a permit, only for the purposes of accessing the Columbia and Snake rivers.
All manually powered boats UNDER 10 feet long are exempt from the permit requirement.

Typically this sort of information is hidden away.
Used to be that power boats from Idaho & Washington could launch in a tributary within one mile of the Columbia without needing the permit. Now they could argue the Warrenton Marina is out of the mainstream of the Columbia. Out of state permits are $20.

Linkey http://www.boatoregon.com/OSMB/Clean/AISPPFAQsPage.shtml
 
A friend of mine just hauled a pair of PWC's up from California, (He is not a boater but a trucker) and saw a sign coming in to Oregon down on I-5 near the Cal-Or boarder. He called me to see if I knew anything about the permit. He also stopped for the inspection. They pulled the plugs on their "bilge" and all was dry, so they sent him on, no permit. Sounds like it is a catch as one will program right now. I launched on the Oregon side of the Columbia last fall, didn't see any signs up there then.

I like the Columbia river caveat.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
I travel with my boat between our Calif and Wa. houses. The signs have been up at the border for a couple of years. Winter time no issue driving through, but in the summer they pull you into the truck stop and did an education piece and inspected the boat and put a seal on it. Coming back into Calif. at the pest inspection site they just ask where was it last in the water and take a 30 sec peek at the boat and send me on my way.
 
I just bought a boat out of Lake Mead. Lake Mead is having a problem with an invasive species, and we had to fill out a form for Nevada telling them when the boat was last in the water, and where it was going. Nevada then notified Washington state, who contacted the shipper to make inspection arrangements when the boat came into Washington.

No cost to any of this, just added another layer of paperwork. And I have found no stow aways on the boat of a biological nature.
 
They have a portable inspection station that travels around oregon now. I was inspected last year near home at Detroit reservoir. Just takes a couple minutes. Mostly manned by volunteers. State police have found a couple boats on transport trucks coming from florida that were loaded. We certainly don't need the mussels here in oregon. Because of the hurricane damage in florida there are a ton of boats for sale from there and brokers and repair shops and hobbyists from all over the country are buying them dirt cheap and hauling them to wherever to refurbish and sell.
 
lloyds":2uwirhba said:
State police have found a couple boats on transport trucks coming from florida that were loaded. We certainly don't need the mussels here in oregon. Because of the hurricane damage in florida there are a ton of boats for sale from there and brokers and repair shops and hobbyists from all over the country are buying them dirt cheap and hauling them to wherever to refurbish and sell.
Click to expand...

Lloyd, would you please provide us with a citation about boats from Florida that were "loaded" (I assume that you mean loaded with invasive species of some type--not just loaded on a trailer). Florida is not one of the states where there is proliferation of Zebra mussels or quagga mussels. (Both the USDA site and maps do not show Florida as endemic). In fact if a Zebra muscle is found in Florida it is "reportable".

As for Hurricanes--yes there were a number in the early 2000's--the last major storms were in 2005--seven years ago. Those boats are long gone-Many of them cut up. If they were damaged in the hurricanes they would not have been sitting in the water, and would not have been a source of invasive species.

Yes, we do have invasive species--including pythons, a number of aquatic grasses, insects, some barnacles etc--but Muscles are not the problems in Florida that they are in the inland waters. Please check your source.

Here is the link to maps of these muscles updated daily--no Florida:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/mollusks/zebramussel/
 
It has been months since I saw the articles but I seem to recall they were in the oregonian, the main portland newspaper. One incident I do remember was there was a state trooper that was actually familiar with the new procedures and just happened to get behind a large boat on a transport trailer and had the foresight to stop it and look. I could be wrong about them saying florida but I thought that was what the article said. The boats still seem to be coming out of the south. I have a friend with a small yard in portland, and I think he also has one on the ship canal in seattle and he has been picking up midsized boats with water damage as they come up for auction.
 
We have had enough problems in Florida, with the Hurricanes of 2004/05 and then the oil spill 3 years ago. Rumors which would decrease boating participation would be further detrimental to the economy.

There were "dreamers" who thought they could rebuild boats. I surveyed a number of them. Only a small fraction were completed (and most are done by now, which were going to get done). Many were cut up and crushed when the "dreamer" ran out of $$, patience and skills, and failed to pay yard bills. One yard in Pensacola had over 100 boats after Ivan which sold at auction. That same yard has only one boat left from that era. The other large yard near it, has none left.

I was looking at a "fantasy boat" a couple of days ago--it was 115 feet long, and in beautiful condition. Asking price was $2.9 million. Over 10 million had been spent on it in the last 5 years (no hurricane damage)--and in a normal economy it would sell for at least 15 to 18 million.
 
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