Why Montana Boaters Have One Less Sticker to Worry About

“This new law eliminates a confusing and unnecessary piece of bureaucracy for boat owners.”

That is according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Christy Clark, assessing  new legislation signed into law by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte. Thanks to that legislation, boaters in Montana no longer need a validation decal from Montana FWP.

The legislation was sponsored by Representative Steve Kelly of Montana House District 9, and was proposed by FWP. The main feature of the new law is the removal of the requirement for watercraft validation for motorized vessels. This validation was a free  sticker that boat owners had to get every three years from FWP.

The new law went into effect May 1. The original reason for the validation was a requirement by the U.S. Coast Guard that allowed FWP to secure federal boating safety funds. However, the Coast Guard requirements changed and Montana was no longer compliant. Rather than ask Montana boat owners to get an annual validation, Governor Gianforte, FWP and lawmakers decided to remove the requirement all together.

Director Clark went on to say, “Boat owners just need to license their vessel one time with the county they live in.” Along with removing the vessel validation requirement, the legislation also cleaned up a few other pieces of boating law, including:

---Clarifying that on personal watercraft, life jackets simply need to be Coast Guard approved.

---Updating navigation and right-of-way rules to mirror those on federal waterways.

---Increasing the threshold for reporting a boating accident from $100 to $2,000.

Save boating to all this summer in Montana.