MNHunter
Well-known member
The article doesn't state it but NR moose tags would to to $1400 and sheep tags to $2250!
Hunting, fishing fees may rise
By JEFF GEARINO
Star-Tribune staff writer Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Most of Wyoming's hunting and fishing licenses would increase by about 16 percent beginning in 2008 under a Game and Fish Department proposal that a legislative committee will consider today.
The measure is designed to improve what department officials describe as a beleaguered financial picture for the agency. They say looming revenue shortfalls are threatening department programs and new revenue funding sources need to be found.
Game and Fish will seek sponsorship of the proposal to raise hunting and fishing license fees from the Legislature's Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Interim Committee during a meeting this morning in Saratoga.
Under the proposal, a resident hunter would pay $5 more for an antelope license ($31), $6 more for a deer license ($36) and $8 more for an elk license ($50) beginning in the 2008 hunting season.
A nonresident antelope license would increase by $45, a nonresident deer license by $50 and a nonresident elk license by $95 under the proposal.
An annual resident fishing license would increase $4 to $22 per license, and a nonresident fishing license would rise $15 to $90 per license.
The agency is also proposing to increase the price of a conservation stamp from $10 to $12 and to raise the cost of a lifetime conservation stamp by $30 to $180. Resident application fees would increase to $5 and nonresident application fees to $14.
For years, Game and Fish Department directors have warned that revenue shortfalls are threatening department programs.
Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland told Game and Fish Commissioners during a budget meeting in April that without additional funding sources, the agency will continue to operate at the most basic level for the next few years.
Increasing demands on the management of the state wildlife, particularly federally listed endangered species, have made the department's current funding system inadequate, he said.
Cleveland said most of the agency's current revenue stream is going to fund day-to-day operations. Game and Fish has a $53.7 million budget for fiscal year 2006-07, an increase of about 5 percent from the previous fiscal year.
For nearly a century, the traditional funding for the department has come mostly from hunters and anglers. The result has been that the Game and Fish is one of the state's most independent agencies.
Currently, about 70 percent of the funding for the department comes from the sales of hunting and fishing licenses, stamps and application fees, according to department data. About 20 percent comes from a federal excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment, and about 10 percent comes from grants and interest received on trust investments.
The Legislature in 2002 increased hunting and fishing license fees by about 20 percent. Those increases went into effect in 2004. The fee increases raised the agency's budget by more than $6 million.
Today's legislative committee meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Riviera Lodge in Saratoga with a presentation by Game and Fish Chief Fiscal Officer Kathy Frank on the department's revenues and expenditures. At 10:30 a.m. Cleveland will speak to the agency's future budget needs, and the committee will consider the draft bill at 11 a.m.
Hunting, fishing fees may rise
By JEFF GEARINO
Star-Tribune staff writer Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Most of Wyoming's hunting and fishing licenses would increase by about 16 percent beginning in 2008 under a Game and Fish Department proposal that a legislative committee will consider today.
The measure is designed to improve what department officials describe as a beleaguered financial picture for the agency. They say looming revenue shortfalls are threatening department programs and new revenue funding sources need to be found.
Game and Fish will seek sponsorship of the proposal to raise hunting and fishing license fees from the Legislature's Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Interim Committee during a meeting this morning in Saratoga.
Under the proposal, a resident hunter would pay $5 more for an antelope license ($31), $6 more for a deer license ($36) and $8 more for an elk license ($50) beginning in the 2008 hunting season.
A nonresident antelope license would increase by $45, a nonresident deer license by $50 and a nonresident elk license by $95 under the proposal.
An annual resident fishing license would increase $4 to $22 per license, and a nonresident fishing license would rise $15 to $90 per license.
The agency is also proposing to increase the price of a conservation stamp from $10 to $12 and to raise the cost of a lifetime conservation stamp by $30 to $180. Resident application fees would increase to $5 and nonresident application fees to $14.
For years, Game and Fish Department directors have warned that revenue shortfalls are threatening department programs.
Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland told Game and Fish Commissioners during a budget meeting in April that without additional funding sources, the agency will continue to operate at the most basic level for the next few years.
Increasing demands on the management of the state wildlife, particularly federally listed endangered species, have made the department's current funding system inadequate, he said.
Cleveland said most of the agency's current revenue stream is going to fund day-to-day operations. Game and Fish has a $53.7 million budget for fiscal year 2006-07, an increase of about 5 percent from the previous fiscal year.
For nearly a century, the traditional funding for the department has come mostly from hunters and anglers. The result has been that the Game and Fish is one of the state's most independent agencies.
Currently, about 70 percent of the funding for the department comes from the sales of hunting and fishing licenses, stamps and application fees, according to department data. About 20 percent comes from a federal excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment, and about 10 percent comes from grants and interest received on trust investments.
The Legislature in 2002 increased hunting and fishing license fees by about 20 percent. Those increases went into effect in 2004. The fee increases raised the agency's budget by more than $6 million.
Today's legislative committee meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Riviera Lodge in Saratoga with a presentation by Game and Fish Chief Fiscal Officer Kathy Frank on the department's revenues and expenditures. At 10:30 a.m. Cleveland will speak to the agency's future budget needs, and the committee will consider the draft bill at 11 a.m.
