By Louie Stout

If you’ve been using a Michigan public access this summer, you’ve probably noticed new signs posted at the ramp indicating that you are now required to have the state’s Recreation Passport Sticker on your license plate to use that site or be ticketed.

Here’s why: In 2018, the Michigan DNR Director issued an order that required passport stickers at most public access sites.

For several years, the state has managed pay sites at some of the larger public boat launches (like Diamond Lake in Cass County).

On weekends and holidays, there is a DNR person there to check your vehicle for the passport sticker which is applied to your license plates. Without it, you must pay the daily fee.

There was no charge at sites that didn’t have a person on hand to collect the fees.

Well, that has changed and the program is being expanded to the busier launch sites where there isn’t a DNR person to take your money.

The annual passport costs $11 for residents and $33 for non-residents. At pay sites, you can pay $9 for a one-day permit. Michigan residents can buy an annual permit at the time they renew their vehicle license plate and it’s good until the next plate renewal. When non-residents buy them, they are only good for the rest of that season.

The Passport covers admission fees to state parks, public launches and other DNR fee-based facilities.

According to Jason Fleming, chief of Resource Protection and Promotion in the Parks and Recreation Division, the new signs were posted at several sites this year to educate the public of the expansion.

“We are posting the signs this year to assess how it’s working and how it will work in the future,” said Fleming. “It’s only required on those sites that are being posted. There may be some sites with only a few parking spots where the fee may not be required.”

Does that mean you can be ticketed this year?

Fleming was non-committal about this year, noting that maintenance staff or other Michigan park personnel working at a site could issue a citation in the form of an envelope placed on the windshield.

If you receive a violation notice, you can pay it at a designated state office location or mail it in. You will likely be given a choice of paying the one-day feet or the annual fee. If you pay the annual fee through the violation, you will receive the sticker that covers you for the rest of that calendar year.

If the violation notice isn’t paid within a few days, you will get a second notice. If that notice is ignored, it will be turned over to the local courts.

Fleming said that the new fees generated by additional Passport sales will be used to manage and maintain Michigan waterways and facilities.