Document text
M/CLOUDY Temp: 50 °F Wind: W at 9 mph Tuesday, April 1, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 27, 2003 Tardy boaters can renew boat registration online By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune More than 30,000 Oregonians who have yet to renew their boat registrations this year are getting their tardiness rewarded with a new option that puts registration just a point and a click away. The Oregon State Marine Board has added a new Web option for electronic registration for power boats, personal watercraft and other vessels that fall under Oregon’s registration laws. The Marine Board is using the lazy boaters as guinea pigs to work the bugs out of the on-line registration before a flood of boaters use it for 2004. "It’s for the people who have been procrastinating," Marine Board spokesman Randy Henry says. "The system’s ready, and we’re using them as a test group." The Marine Board re-registers half the 200,000 registered boats annually in Oregon, and the registrations are good for two years. Fees are determined on a sliding scale by the size and type of boat. In the past, boaters had to either mail their registrations to the Marine Board with a check or visit a licensed agent. Now, they can click on the Marine Board’s Web site at www.boatoregon.com and click on the registration icon. Using a Visa or Mastercard and a pin number the agency earlier mailed to the owners of unregistered boats, they can quickly re-register their crafts. A printout of their receipt serves as temporary registration until the official one is mailed, Henry says. "That way, they can register their boat and go boating that day," Henry says. About 200 people have used the system successfully so far, he says. Recent rains have helped disperse hatchery winter steelhead in the Applegate River just in time for the sport-fishing season to close. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife technicians have collected about 900 hatchery winter steelhead in a trap at the base of Applegate Dam, indicating that the run is well-dispersed throughout the river system. Unfortunately for anglers who have been waiting for the steelhead to spread out, the Applegate’s fishing season ends Monday evening. Even though the steelhead did not seem as well-dispersed, this year’s run to the fish trap at the base of Applegate Dam is actually ahead of most years, says Matt Frank, assistant manager at Cole Rivers Hatchery, whose crews also work the Applegate trap. As of March 19, 838 fish were counted in the trap, which is far higher than the 102-fish average for the past five years, Frank says. Even last year, which was considered a high-run year, only 281 steelhead reached the trap by March 20. "Everybody was just a little over-anxious this year," Frank says. "I think it was all the nice weather. The fishermen got spring fever in the middle of winter." Hatchery technicians on Tuesday trucked about 500 excess steelhead from the trap and released them into Applegate Lake so anglers can catch them. Unlike excess spring chinook salmon that are often sold to a Washington fish-buyer, excess winter steelhead cannot be sold. So excess fish are either released into area reservoirs or killed and hauled to a landfill. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S