Proposed Change to Michigan Recreation Passports When Registering Vehicle

In 2010, Michigan enacted the recreation passport program which added the passport to your license plate, this could be changing, and here is what you need to know.

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What is Michigan's Recreation Passport?

In the state of Michigan, you have always been able to purchase a recreation passport to enter state parks. In the past, you would buy a daily sticker for a day or sticker that would be good for the whole season like the one you see in the picture above. These stickers were available for purchase at the entrance of Michigan state parks.

The stickers seen above would go on your license plate. Originally, there were recreation stickers that would be placed on your front windshield. Now you purchase them when registering your vehicle for an additional $14.

Michigan Recreation Passport Could Become Opt-Out

According to Michigan Advance, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is proposing an "Opt-Out" model to the recreation passport for Michigan's state parks. What this means is the current $14 you would pay for a recreation passport would be automatically added to your vehicle license renewal. You would have to opt out to not have to pay the extra money.

As much as I like convenience and using Michigan state parks and boat launches, this opt-out approach may be deceiving to those who don't use the parks system at all.  The current way to get your recreation passport in Michigan is to select the passport by checking a box on your vehicle registration renewal. This is much better because you decide if you want this or not. This way it is your choice which vehicle the passport goes on if you have more than one vehicle. I have a truck and a car, I only use my truck for parks and boat launches so I don't need this on my car so there I don't check the box. This could cause some confusion in registering vehicles and raise the price of tags for those who may not want to use a state park.  People should not have to opt out of something they never opted in for in the first place, but this could all change in 2025.