Bailing Out
The state’s Boating Special Fund was set up as a way of having recreational boaters and commercial operators using small boat harbors pay their own way. The revenue from fees and permits, which bring in millions of dollars a year, is supposed to be used to keep small boat harbors safe and clean and in good repair, pay personnel, and cover all the other costs associated with maintaining recreational ocean uses.
Yet an audit of the fund shows millions of dollars spent on salvaging vessels that have run aground or sunk. State law is clear that the owners are responsible for those costs. But the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, which manages the special fund, makes little effort to make them pay.
Our own dive into the data suggests the drain on the special fund is even worse than that described in the audit.
It’s time to plug the drain.
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