Boating Registration & Identification 

Boat owners must register their vessel with the Department of Natural Resources, & must display their current registration decals and the Iowa issued registration numbers provided by the County Recorder. In addition, the operator must carry the registration certificate on board. Registrations must be renewed every three years and are nontransferable. These can be acquired starting January 1 of the new registration cycle and are valid for three years. All Iowa registrations expire April 30 of the renewal year. Residents can obtain registrations and renewals from a County Recorder Office. Nonresidents can obtain registration from their home state or an Iowa registration from the County Recorder’s in the County of primary use. •

Letters must be separated from the numbers by a space or hyphen: IA 3717 ZW or IA-3717-ZW. Decals must be affixed on each side of the vessel, toward the stern of the registration number, 4 inches from and in line with the number. (Decals should be located “aft” of the registration number, not “after.”

For exemptions re boat length, images of decals and registration numbers, and other details, see pages 4-5 of the Iowa DNR Registration Guide:                                                  https://www.boat-ed.com/assets/pdf/handbook/ia_handbook_entire.pdf

Iowa Paddling Chronology (Updated 2017)

The original “Chronology of Paddling in Iowa” document was developed by Rick Dietz and Robin Fortney, and shared with attendees during the 2008 Canoe Sport Outfitters Iowa Paddlesport Expo. With their encouragement and assistance, IWTA has revised this living document with additional events and dates, researched and solicited from numerous sources among our readers. We hope you enjoy this look back at our state’s history, interesting characters, notable disasters and achievements, and many items relating to the pursuit of recreational paddling.

Please forward additions, corrections, or comments to Gregg Stark at greggstarkcr@gmail.com.  Iowa Paddling Chronology 171227

IWTA Guide for Event Planning, Checklist, News Release (2013)

 This guide focuses on the marketing of a WT event from planning through execution, then offers hints on how to maximize the benefits to be derived immediately following the event.       IWTA Event Planning, Checklist, News Release, Follow Through Doc 

Please forward corrections or additions to  iowawta@gmail.com