if im going to canada do i need a passport to get back to the US? (traveling by land)?

We're going to Canada in July 2008 traveling by van and we're US citizens. Can just a birth certificate and drivers license suffice to return to the states?

That law was suspended until '09 that you absolutely have to have one because of the severe backlog. Your birth certificate and license should be enough. However, it's so much easier to get through if you have a passport. Depending on when you're going in July it may be too late to even try to get one.

Perhaps you should be asking this in a US travel section.

The new laws that took effect in Jan 2008 for LAND and SEA state that you do not need a passport yet, but that "oral" declarations are no longer accepted.

In other words, it used to be you could just tell the customs official "My name is John Smith, I am from New York, and I am returning home from a vacation. Yes, I am a US citizen."

That is no longer acceptable. Now you must show a birth certificate, driver's license, or other document that shows your nationality.

To avoid problems as we get closer to June 2009 (the current deadline for passport requirements), you may want to apply for the passport now even if you won't have it for the next trip to Canada, since you pretty much need one to go anywhere out of the country by plane anyway.

I've attached the official info from Homeland Security for you.