Mainers who have hunted or fished in other states know the price of admission here is a fair deal, and in some cases a bargain. Maine is not the cheapest New England state when it comes to licenses for outdoor activities, but it is not the most expensive, either.

This will be a major point that members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will make at public hearings in Ellsworth and Presque Isle this month and next, as they try to find a way to solve a looming deficit in the state’s fish and game budget.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife charges fees for 117 different licenses and permits. About a half-dozen of these, allowing Maine residents and out-of-staters to go hunting and riding on all-terrain vehicles, are in the limelight during this latest effort to help DIF&W pay its bills.

Usually lawmakers hold hearings after they have decided what fees they would like to increase. This time they are asking the public to help them to decide what to do.

DIF&W’s budget is $24 million, more than two-thirds of which comes from license fees. As the only state agency that is run largely on money brought in from licenses, it faces a huge financial shortfall in two years, after five years of no fee increases and stagnant sales. If nothing is done, the department will find itself in an $8 million hole by 2005.

DIF&W is unique among state agencies in that it is allowed to keep revenue from license sales. But it is forced to fund programs and staff with that money, and it often does not have enough.

If fees go up, sportsmen’s groups are looking for something in return.

Jeff Hopkins, the Maine Bowhunters Association president, said he’s working with the members of the Maine Muzzleloader Association to propose raising revenue with a specialty season just for them.

And George Smith, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, has said he would support fee increases, but not without added opportunities, such as increased bag limits.

Rep. Matt Dunlap, D-Old Town, the Fish and Wildlife Committee’s co-chair, said those testifying at a public hearing last month in Sanford expressed similar sentiments, but he warned about creating new opportunities that could be eliminated to protect particular game species, as happened when any-deer permits were cut for this fall after a harsh winter.

One reader who wrote to the Bangor Daily News about the issue said DIF&W should increase fees, but it should “start with out-of-state hunters.”

The department could make quite a bit there.

Nonresident hunters pay $85 for a big game license in Maine. New Hampshire charges nonresidents $73 now, but that will go up to $105.50 in two years. Massachusetts asks $99.50.

With 35,000 nonresident hunters purchasing big game licenses in Maine each year, an extra $10 could add up fast. But Dunlap cautions against alienating a group that helps to bring money into the state’s economy, and whose numbers have remained consistent for at least the past 10 years.

Another issue is whether to raise fees just enough to cover the projected deficit or to raise enough money to head off future problems.

The hearings will be “mutual education. We tell them what the problems are and they tell us their ideas,” he said. “We want it done in a way that it’s not shoved down their throats again. That’s the whole point of the hearings.”

Fees for the big game hunting license, which allows sportsmen to hunt deer as well as turkeys, are not the only increases being considered. Three others – increases for permits for bear hunting and ATV use and a new permit fee for hunting turkeys – are also under consideration. Permits to hunt bear and moose already have to be purchased on top of the big game license fee.

Maine is known as the prime destination of black bear hunting in North America, yet the $5 permit for the fall hunt for residents is less than the price of a movie.

It’s only $15 for nonresidents. The price of the black bear hunt for out-of-staters in Michigan is $154.

For its wild turkey hunt, Maine charges nothing beyond the cost of the big game license. Elsewhere in New England visiting hunters are charged from $6 to $20.

DIF&W could profit as well on increased costs for ATV permits. Maine charges ATV users just $12, while in New Hampshire the cost is $27 and in Massachusetts it’s $30.

Advocates of higher fees point out that opportunities to kill game in Maine are greater than in many states.

Last year there were 36,885 deer killed in Maine, while 20,498 were taken in Vermont and just 10,879 were killed in New Hampshire.

DIF&W budget director Rick Record said his department has been comparing hunting opportunities here with those in Midwestern states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, because the size of the deer herd and the land mass in those places are more like Maine’s.

But Record said Mainers are more apt to look to what’s done in New Hampshire or Vermont than in Michigan.

To be sure, new sources of revenue have been added over the years.

In 1998, the Legislature’s fish and game committee helped DIF&W raise $1.2 million through the introduction of the multiple-chance moose lottery, an expanded bow hunting season and increased boat registration fees.

But once again the department finds itself approaching a shortfall.

The hearing in Ellsworth will be at 6 p.m., Wednesday at City Hall. The time and place for the Presque Isle hearing has yet to be determined, except that it will be at the end of November.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.