Information about the Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Stamp:

What is ANS?

• Aquatic Nuisance Species.  Also known as Aquatic Invasive Species or AIS.
• Non-native plants, animals, and pathogens that cause problems for natural resources and the human use of those resources, often resulting in social and economic harm.

What is this stamp?

• The Colorado legislature approved a $25 resident/$50 nonresident stamp to prevent, contain, control, monitor, and, whenever possible, eradicate aquatic nuisance species (ANS) from the waters of Colorado and to protect human health, safety and welfare from aquatic nuisance species.
• If you register/renew your vessel online or via a registration renewal postcard, the cost of the ANS stamp appears as part of your total amount due. You do NOT need to manually add another $25 to your payment for the ANS stamp.

Why does Colorado need this stamp?

• To avoid damaging and costly control operations in perpetuity, Colorado has implemented an effective watercraft inspection and decontamination prevention system to stop ANS introduction, specifically zebra and quagga mussels, by inspecting watercraft before they enter our waters, decontaminating those with ANS attached, educating boat operators, and ensuring that users clean, drain and dry watercraft. An ongoing, rigorous program requires a stable funding source.
• With waters in bordering states facing serious costs in damages to fisheries and water infrastructure, Colorado intends to continue avoiding these harmful infestations. Without mandatory watercraft inspection and decontamination prevention in place, western states such as AZ, KS, NE, OK and TX, along with eastern states, continue to lose waters to invasive mussels each year.

• ANS harm aquatic ecosystems and fisheries by disrupting the food web and outcompeting native species.
• They cause enormous problems for water infrastructure used for municipal, agriculture and industrial purposes by attaching to, clogging and impairing water storage, treatment and distribution systems.

What is it paying for?

• The new ANS Stamp will provide approximately half of the funding needed to run ANS Program operations annually, which includes watercraft inspection and decontamination services, sampling and monitoring of state waters, management of existing populations, and education/outreach efforts. Severance tax funds have provided the bulk of ANS funding in past years, but severance taxes are a fluctuating revenue source and federal funds have been reduced in recent years. The new ANS stamp will consistently fund half of the estimated $5M program costs to offset that loss of severance tax funds.

Information for boaters in Colorado:

What do I need to put my motorboat or sailboat on the water in Colorado?

• If you live in Colorado, you will need to register your vessel and purchase an ANS stamp at the time of registration.
• If your motorboat or sailboat is exempt from Colorado registration and/or registered in another state, you will only need to purchase the ANS stamp.

Why did my registration increase?

• The registration did not increase.  There is an additional $25 fee being charged at the same time as registration, which is for the ANS stamp.
• If you register/renew your vessel online or via a registration renewal postcard, the cost of the ANS stamp appears as part of your total amount due. You do NOT need to manually add another $25 to your payment for the ANS stamp.

How much does it cost to get a replacement ANS Stamp?

• The replacement fee for an in-state registered boat is the same as the replacement fee for an in-state boat registration $5 and there is no additional charge since registration is essentially proof of payment for the ANS stamp.

• The replacement fee for an in-state exempt boat ($12.50) or an out of state boat ($25.00) is ½ the cost of the ANS stamp ($25/$50).

How do I get the ANS Stamp?

• Colorado registered motorboats and sailboats will purchase the ANS stamp at the same time they register the boat annually either online, via mail or at any CPW office.
• All other motorboats and sailboats can purchase the ANS stamp online at www.cpwshop.com or at any CPW office or sales location.

Is there a physical stamp or sticker provided?

• Just like a Habitat Stamp purchase, a specific product such as a sticker or stamp will not be generated.
• By statute, a person who pays for an aquatic nuisance species stamp for a motorboat or sailboat must have the stamp receipt kept with him or her, or on the motorboat or sailboat.
• This receipt will vary based on how the stamp is obtained:

• If purchasing when registering online, a note will be printed on the 60-day temporary registration received upon payment, as well as printed on the letter attached to the registration sticker.
• If purchasing when registering at a CPW office, a standard receipt will be printed at payment, and a note will be printed on the letter attached to the registration sticker.
• If purchasing when registering via mailed payment/lockbox, a note will be printed on the letter attached to the registration sticker.
• If purchasing via CPWShop.com, a purchase confirmation email will be sent.
• If purchasing at an office, park or sales agent, both an email confirmation will be sent and a green receipt will be printed.

• The proof of payment or receipt can be electronic (email confirmation) or printed (registration sticker paper, email confirmation printed at home, green paper receipt) but it must be available when the motorboat or sailboat is at a Colorado water body.

Where can we buy the ANS Stamp?

• Colorado registered motorboats and sailboats will purchase the ANS stamp at the same time they register the boat annually either online, via mail or at any CPW office.
• All other motorboats and sailboats can purchase the ANS stamp online at www.cpwshop.com or at any CPW office or sales location.

What if I don’t pay?

• Violators are subject to a $150 fine.
• You can’t legally launch your boat on Colorado’s waters without purchasing an ANS stamp prior to launching.

Is it transferable?

• No, the ANS stamp is not transferable.

What vehicles do I need this for?

• Every motorboat or sailboat

What if I register my boat here but I don’t actually boat here?

• All motorboats and sailboats in Colorado are required to have an ANS stamp.

Do I need one per person?

• The ANS stamp is needed for each motorboat and sailboat.  
• You do not need one per person, but the receipt for the stamp must be carried on the boat.

Do I need one for every boat?

• Yes. Every motorboat and sailboat in Colorado is required to have an ANS stamp.
• Non-motorized boats do not need an ANS stamp.

How long is it good for?

• One calendar year.

What resident motorboats or sailboats are exempt from CO registration and still need to purchase the $25 ANS Stamp?

• Motorboats or sailboats that are registered with the US Coast Guard.
• Motorboats or sailboats that only operate on private waters.

What kind of ANS stamp does my kayak or canoe need?

• If your kayak or canoe has no motor, they are non-motorized, and you do not need to purchase an ANS stamp.
• If your kayak or canoe has a motor on it, you will need to purchase an ANS stamp.  Residents are $25 at the time of registration or renewal; and out of state is $50.

Do I need this to go down the river?

• If you have a motorboat or sailboat - Yes.
• If you have a non-motorized boat - No.

When does my boat need to be inspected?

1. Any time the boat has launched out of state it must be inspected prior to coming back into Colorado and launching on our waters.
2. Before launching or exiting at a Colorado reservoir or lake that has an inspection station.
3. If requested by an authorized agent or peace officer.

When does my boat need to be decontaminated?

1. Anytime ANS are found or suspected on the watercraft.
2. If the vessel is coming from an infested water and was not previously decontaminated.
3. If the vessel has standing water that can’t be drained (e.g. ballast tanks, engines)
4. If the vessel has plants that can’t be removed by hand.
5. If the vessel has live aquatic bait without a valid receipt.
6. If requested by an authorized agent or peace officer.

Where can I get an inspection or decontamination?

• Colorado has 72 watercraft inspection and decontamination stations.  You can find all their information on CPW’s boating webpage here.

Why is an out of state ANS stamp more than a resident ANS Stamp?

• Out of state boats pose a higher risk of moving mussels because there are mussels in other states and there are no infested waters within Colorado.  Therefore, these boats often take longer to inspect and frequently require decontamination which absorbs a greater amount of staff and operating budgets.

My motorboat is registered in NM but my trailer is registered in CO.  I live in CO.  What stamp do I need?

• You need to buy a $50 ANS Stamp because your vessel is not registered in Colorado.  
• You should register your boat in Colorado since you are a resident.

My motorboat is registered in CO but my trailer is registered in AZ.  I live in CO.  What stamp do I need?

• You need to buy a $25 ANS Stamp at the time of registration.  
• You should register your trailer in Colorado since you are a resident.

Does it matter if it is U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) documented versus registered in the state?

• Residents that are USCG are required to purchase the $25 ANS stamp.
• Visitors from other states that are documented with the USCG are required to purchase the $50 ANS stamp.

I only boat on private waters.  Do I need an ANS stamp?

• Yes. All motorboats and sailboats in Colorado are required to have an ANS stamp.

Out of state boaters that come to Colorado for fishing tournaments for 30 days register their boat in Colorado & buy stamp. Will they have to re-purchase the stamp when they come back for fishing tournaments in the same year?

• No, the boater will not have to repurchase the stamp

Who do I call to answer my questions?

• CPW Call Center - 303-297-1192

Additional Details on the ANS Stamp:

Why are boaters required to buy this now? What’s the immediacy?

• The Colorado ANS Program was authorized by the Colorado Legislature in 2008 utilizing severance tax funds. CPW has leveraged those funds with federal and local grants to fund the ANS Program since inception. But severance tax is a fluctuating source and federal funds have been reduced in recent years. Additionally, in April 2016, the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in BP Am. v Colorado Department of Revenue drastically reduced severance tax availability.
• This bill provides a stable funding source of $2.4 million for the ANS program in 2019 and beyond by requiring boaters to purchase an ANS stamp for each motorboat or sailboat.
• Sustainable funding for the ANS Program is essential to protect our waters and water infrastructure from irreversible invasion!

I’m a safe and careful boater, why do I have to pay for all of this?

• Zebra and quagga mussels, and other ANS, can only get to Colorado one way - by hitchhiking on boats and moving great distances overland into new waters.  
• The Colorado ANS Program is managing the single largest vector of spread for invasive mussels - recreational watercraft.
• By keeping mussels and other ANS out of Colorado, we are preserving not only the water resources and protecting water infrastructure, but also maintaining the outstanding recreational opportunities for boating and fishing that Colorado’s waters provide.

What else did the Mussel Free Colorado Act do?

• The bill maintains severance tax collection, while also raising fines for those who are not responsibly cleaning, draining and drying their craft, or those launching without inspection.

• The bill continues Tier 2 Severance Tax appropriations, when available, to cover the remainder of the $4.5–$5 million annual cost of ANS program implementation.

• The bill increases fines for ANS related violations.

• It raises the fine for unlawful boat launches without inspection from $50 to $100.
• The fine for known importation of ANS into the state raises from $150 to $500 for a first offense.

• The bill allows CPW to charge labor/costs incurred to store and decontaminate intercepted vessels.
• Finally, it also encourages federal partners to take responsibility for ANS inspection funding at their reservoirs.

Why aren’t the non-motorized boaters being charged?

• Non-motorized watercraft are not required to register and are not required to get an ANS stamp.  
• They are considered low risk for transporting ANS and are not required to get a mandatory inspection or decontamination.  
• They are however required to be clean, drain, and dry in between each and every use.  
• They are not to be transporting water or plants over land on watercraft.

How does it work for government boats that are “No Fee” or search and rescue?

• Yes, every motorboat and sailboat is required to have an ANS stamp, but there will be no fee for government boats along with the registration.

I own a marina and have rental boats.  What do I need to do?

• Marina owners need to register each motorboat and sailboat, and purchase an ANS stamp for every motorboat and sailboat annually.

What resident motorboats or sailboats are exempt from CO registration and still need to purchase the $25 ANS Stamp?

• Motorboats or sailboats that are registered with the US Coast Guard.
• Motorboats or sailboats that only operate on private waters.