I recently heard about Maine’s proposal to tax human-powered watercraft.

Somehow, I fail to see the logic in the most recent in a stream of poorly conceived revenue-generating ideas.

Canoeists and kayakers do not need the state to support them, and the state should not need them to support it. Paddlers carry their boats to launch locations, which are often out-of-the-way sites with no boat ramp. And since the crafts are carried car-top, no large parking lots with room for boat trailers are needed.

These boats require no channel markers, no signage, no true supervision and very rarely, if ever, rescue assistance. In other words, the state provides nothing for canoeists and kayakers in the way of assistance.

What’s next, a tax on every pair of hiking boots? An annual tax on every sleeping bag in the state? Don’t forget to tax tents, too. While we are at it, tax camp stoves, fishing poles, bicycles and every other piece of outdoor equipment. That’s a great way to stimulate the Maine economy.

Granted, the state is in poor shape financially. However, discouraging the average paddle-boat owner (many of us own in excess of 10 boats and can only paddle one at a time) is not the way to improve finances.

Maybe if the state charged a surtax for every bad revenue-generating idea a lawmaker proposed, it would be rich in no time flat.

Until then, leave canoes and kayaks out of the budget.

Sandra Kudrak,

Hyde Park, N.Y.

Copy the Story Link