The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the…

The Department of Homeland Security US Coast Guard awarded the North Dakota Department of Game and Fish $1,104,304 on October 1, 2025, under the Boating Safety Financial Assistance program (CFDA 97.012), a formula grant supporting state recreational boating safety efforts.

The North Dakota Department of Game and Fish will use the funding to support boating safety activities in North Dakota through September 30, 2028. Eligible uses include providing facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement; training personnel in boating safety and enforcement; delivering public boating safety education to the boating community and public schools; acquiring, constructing, or repairing public access sites for recreational boaters; conducting boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations; establishing and maintaining emergency and search-and-rescue facilities and providing assistance; establishing and maintaining waterway markers and navigation aids; and administering state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.

The North Dakota Department of Game and Fish is a child entity under the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. The program, managed by the U.S. Coast Guard in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, is designed to encourage state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts by enabling states to assume greater responsibility for boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities.

The purpose of the state recreational boating safety program is to encourage greater state participation and uniformity in boating safety efforts, and particularly to permit the states to assume the greater share of boating safety education, assistance, and enforcement activities. Federal funds provided for a state's boating safety program may be used for any of the following expenses. 1. Providing facilities, equipment, and supplies for boating safety education and law enforcement, including purchase, operation, maintenance, and repair. 2. Training personnel in skills related to boating safety and to the enforcement of boating safety laws and regulations. 3. Providing public boating safety education, including educational programs and lectures, to the boating community and the public school system. 4. Acquiring, constructing, or repairing public access sites used primarily by recreational boaters. 5. Conducting boating safety inspections and marine casualty investigations. 6. Establishing and maintaining emergency or search and rescue facilities, and providing emergency or search and rescue assistance. 7. Establishing and maintaining waterway markers and other appropriate aids to navigation. 8. Providing state recreational vessel numbering and titling programs.