Because of the rising cost of doing business, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking its first increase in fishing and hunting license and tag fees in several years.
Fish and Game officials will go over the proposed fee increases they intend to bring before this year's Idaho legislative session during a series of public meetings throughout the state. Locally, officials with the agency's Magic Valley Regional office in Jerome will hold two "sportsmen's breakfasts" this week at which they will explain the fee changes.
If approved by the Legislature, the proposal would raise almost $7 million statewide for the agency annually. Of that, nearly 80 percent would go to maintain existing programs, cover employee compensation and handle inflation costs over the next three years.
The revenue increase is designed to last three years and would allow Fish and Game to implement new programs desired by hunters and anglers, Fish and Game states. If approved, the fee increases would take effect July 1.
The remaining 20 percent, or about $4 million stretched out over three years, would fund on-the-ground needs, such as habitat restoration efforts, improved access for hunters and anglers, new family fishing waters and increased hatchery fish production.
Not only can Fish and Game not raise license and tag fees on its own, it doesn't receive general fund tax money from the state of Idaho.
In the Magic Valley Region, Fish and Game will hold its first sportsmen's breakfast to explain the license and tag fee proposal on Dec. 4 at the Wayside Restaurant in Rupert, on Highway 24 off the Interstate 84 exit. The second session will be held Dec. 18 at the Snake River Grill off Highway 30 in Hagerman. Both programs will begin at 7 a.m. with time for questions on the proposal or any other topics of interest following a short video presentation.
The proposed "fee enhancement package" requests an overall 20 percent increase in license and tag fees, a news release from the agency states. However, not all fees would increase by that amount. The cost for highly sought-after permits or licenses—such as bull elk or salmon and steelhead permits—would increase between 30 to 60 percent under the plan, with general combination licenses only increasing by 11 percent or $3.50, the news release states.
Nonresident general combination licenses would increase 20 percent to $238.25.
Fish and Game was granted its last revenue increase in July 2005, when the legislature approved a 10 percent boost. Though it was only designed to last two years, the agency has relied on that increase for the past four years by deferring several important projects and focusing on cost efficiency.
The agency's license and tag fee proposal identifies three types of licenses and tags whose cost would be decreased. They are the resident junior combination hunting and fishing license, which would drop from $15.75 to $11, the resident junior fishing license, which would drop from $12 to $11, and the bobcat tag, which would drop from $8.25 to $3.
Popular tags eyed for fee increases include the resident controlled hunt deer tag, which would increase nearly 28 percent from $18 to $24.50, the controlled hunt elk tag, which would increase nearly 26 percent from $29 to $36.50, and resident salmon and steelhead tags, which would increase from $11 to $18.
Among the largest fee enhancements, at least in terms of the percentage of increase, would apply to resident bear, mountain lion and gray wolf tags, which would all go up by nearly 85 percent from just $9.75 to $18. Gray wolves won't be hunted in 2009 unless the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service succeeds in delisting them under the Endangered Species Act.
Groups or clubs interested in learning more about the license and tag fee increase can call Fish and Game's Magic Valley Regional Conservation Educator Kelton Hatch to set up a time for a presentation for their group. For more information on the proposed fee increases go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/about/history_funding/RevEnhance/08revEnhance.cfm or call (208) 324-4359.
A steelhead angler casts his flyline into the brisk waters of the main Salmon River near Stanley. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is seeking to boost license and tag fees under a new "differential fee schedule." Under the proposal, "high-quality" hunting and fishing opportunities—including salmon and steelhead angling—would cost more than general opportunities.
Photo by Willy Cook
