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Cleveland Metroparks Boat Ramps $

Big H

Senior Member
4,105
151
Medina
Anyone using the Cleveland Metroparks launching ramps will need to either buy a season pass or pay a daily launch fee starting this year. Season pass for anyone outside of Cuyahoga County is $35 and supposedly the money is ALL going back into ramp upkeep and maintenance. They are eventually going to have pay machines at the launch sites.
 

Chass

Active Member
2,172
52
The Hills
Are boat launches normally free? Honest question as anytime I'm at a ramp I know my duties. Get in the damn boat, get it off the damn trailer and park it by the damn dock and wait.
Makes sense to me, if it's a gov ran ramp hopefully all those proceeds stay where they are intended.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
Are boat launches normally free? Honest question as anytime I'm at a ramp I know my duties. Get in the damn boat, get it off the damn trailer and park it by the damn dock and wait.
Makes sense to me, if it's a gov ran ramp hopefully all those proceeds stay where they are intended.
The majority of state ramps are free. The pay ones seem too be municipalities or water district owned and a fee is assessed. Some of the camp grounds charge a fee as well.
 

Chass

Active Member
2,172
52
The Hills
The majority of state ramps are free. The pay ones seem too be municipalities or water district owned and a fee is assessed. Some of the camp grounds charge a fee as well.
So I assume that means all tax payers pay for the ramp and maintenance then? I'd say they should charge at all of them. Put those funds to good use to maintain it BEFORE they're falling apart.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
So I assume that means all tax payers pay for the ramp and maintenance then? I'd say they should charge at all of them. Put those funds to good use to maintain it BEFORE they're falling apart.
Depends on the ownership of the ramps. Public owned by the state are paid with by your fishing license fees as well as the tax on your goods you use in your outdoor hunting and fishing items. Camp ground ramps are fee based on using the campground parking and such.
City ramps are tax payer and access fees.
Private ramps are access fees.

So in a roundabout way we boaters pay our fair share for the upkeep of the ramps we use.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
It was rhetorical...I think you should pay for a public ramp. Just the same that I think you should pay to hunt public land, hike public, bird watch public, ext... The time of free loading needs to end, someone’s paying for it and it isn’t the ones using it. I’d gladly throw down some extra jingle for a stamp to hunt public. Same for boat launches and so on.
 
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"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
It was rhetorical...I think you should pay for a public ramp. Just the same that I think you should pay to hunt public land, hike public, bird watch public, ext... The time of free loading needs to end, someone’s paying for it and it isn’t the ones using it. I’d gladly throw down some extra jingle for a stamp to hunt public. Same for boat launches and so on.
You already do pay for it, so why pay more?
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
You already do pay for it, so why pay more?
No, I pay to hunt the animal that the state owns (unless it causes damage...anothe rtopic all together). Not to use public lands. Same reason I have to pay for my campsite when I camp on state grounds.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
No, I pay to hunt the animal that the state owns (unless it causes damage...anothe rtopic all together). Not to use public lands. Same reason I have to pay for my campsite when I camp on state grounds.
You’re using their utilities and the upkeep of the sites, plus it’s not wildlife driven.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
You’re using their utilities and the upkeep of the sites, plus it’s not wildlife driven.
So you think your $15 a year is enough to support boat launches, upkeep, shitters? Because I don’t use those. As a matter of fact, I think most launches say “no fishing from dock”.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
So you think your $15 a year is enough to support boat launches, upkeep, shitters? Because I don’t use those. As a matter of fact, I think most launches say “no fishing from dock”.
$15? License fee? The average person who fishes spends way more than that.
 

Chass

Active Member
2,172
52
The Hills
It was rhetorical...I think you should pay for a public ramp. Just the same that I think you should pay to hunt public land, hike public, bird watch public, ext... The time of free loading needs to end, someone’s paying for it and it isn’t the ones using it. I’d gladly throw down some extra jingle for a stamp to hunt public. Same for boat launches and so on.
I'd be a willing purchaser of a public lands stamp every year. Even if I had no plans to use public land. I'd want to see it go back into public lands as well.
 
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Chass

Active Member
2,172
52
The Hills
https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/AboutUs/ItemsTaxedJan2018.pdf

Just a little refresher for those who weren’t aware.
Is this the Robertson-Pittman Act info? It really only explains where they take money, not where it goes and I cant find if it this act or not as that's the only one I'm aware of that uses these tax dollars. If I'm not mistaken this is only spent by the states themselves and can only be spent on land that they control as well which would mean all federal lands/waters wouldn't be included. Could be wrong though.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
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Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
I'd be ok with a $10 "do it all" stamp that allows use of public stuff like ramps, public hunting areas, public piers, etc.. I work with several people who go bird watching all over the state on the weekends. They spend a whole day using places like Killdeer Plains, Magee Marsh, and Ottawa Wildlife Refuge without ever paying one red cent. They get damn near offended when Ive suggested they pay a yearly stamp fee to use these places for bird watching. Then i point out that they'll drop way more than that in gas, food, etc for one outing to enjoy what us hunters/fishermen mostly provide for them.