FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2007

CONTACT: Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

Legislation Introduced to Incrementally Increase Hunting and Fishing License Fees

Legislation has been introduced in the Michigan Legislature that would incrementally increase fees for hunting and fishing licenses in Michigan over the next six years.

The proposed increases for hunting contained in House Bill 4624 begin in 2007 and would be phased in gradually over four years until 2010, and the proposed increases for fishing contained in Senate Bill 406 begin in 2008 and would be phased in gradually over four years until 2011. The legislation also authorizes a 5 percent inflationary increase in license fees for 2012 and 2013.

In both bills, the current 60 percent discount that hunters and anglers age 65 and older receive remains at that rate until 2010, when the amount of the discount is reduced by 5 percent each year until 2013, at which time senior licenses will be 40 percent of the corresponding resident license.

The current license fee structure was signed into law in 1996, at a time when the Department of Natural Resources was provided more General Fund support in the state budget. Today, the DNR receives only 9 percent of its budget from the General Fund, and one half of those funds are for payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) that pass through the agency and go directly to local units of government. Approximately 76 percent of the DNR’s budget is restricted funds, which are limited by law as to how they can be spent.

“As General Fund support for the department has been reduced over the last several years, we have been forced to look at license fee increases so that we can continue the work we do to provide high quality hunting and fishing experiences that hunters and anglers have come to expect in Michigan,” said DNR Director Rebecca Humphries. “These increases will allow the DNR to maintain its current level of service.”

Revenues raised from license fee sales goes to the Game and Fish Protection Fund, a restricted fund that is used for the DNR’s wildlife and fish conservation work in the state. The fund pays for conservation officers, wildlife and fish habitat projects and field biologists, among other expenditures.

Without a license fee increase, the DNR will face an $8 million projected shortfall in the Game and Fish Protection Fund in 2008. The deficit increases to more than $40 million by 2010, which would result in significant cuts in staff and programs for the department.

Other significant highlights of the legislation include:

* Junior licenses for those ages 10-16 will be discounted 50 percent over the cost of regular licenses;

* The Natural Resources Commission will have the authority to discount any license;

* Nonresident license increases will take full effect the first year of the license package and will not be phased in like the Michigan resident licenses;

* The age at which an angler would be required to have a fishing license drops from age 17 to 16;

* A deer combination license will be offered that allows the holder to take two deer in compliance with that year’s rules. The price of the combination license in the first year of the license package is the sum of the price of a resident firearm deer license plus the cost of a second resident bow and arrow license;

* A new 72-hour or 3-day all-species fishing license will be offered to residents and non-residents. This will allow infrequent or visiting anglers to fish over a three-day period, such as a holiday weekend, without purchasing multiple licenses at a cost below what three, 1-day licenses would cost and below the cost of an annual all-species license. All-species licenses allow anglers to fish for all species, including salmon and trout;

* Youth anglers would be required to have a youth fishing license if they plan on keeping the fish that they catch. However, if accompanied by one or more licensed adult anglers, an unlicensed youth can keep the fish they catch as part of the limit of one or more of the adult anglers they are with.

Hunters and anglers who already purchased a 2007 license will not be made to retroactively pay for an increase, should the legislation be approved and signed into law by the Governor.

For more information on the hunting and fishing license package development and the DNR’s budget, please visit the DNR Web site at <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.

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