Debate looms on fish, game fees Sportsmen back bill to cut increases

AUGUSTA – A hunting and fishing lobby is throwing its support behind a modified bill to stabilize shaky game department revenues without imposing the sweeping fee increases vigorously opposed by sportsmen.

A bill supported by eight of the 13 members of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee scales back dozens of fee increases that had been sought to offset a projected $8 million shortfall facing the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The new version of LD 1929, which soon will be debated by the House and Senate, still includes increases for bear, turkey and duck hunters, all-terrain vehicle users and others.

But rather than hitting 425,000 outdoor-sporting enthusiasts with fee hikes of up to 50 percent, the new version seeks relatively tame increases on 15,500 hunters, said George Smith, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

“They’ve really gone a long way to accommodate us,” said Smith, whose group has 14,000 members. “We really feel good about the way it came out.”

Also supporting the reworked version is the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

One of the five members of the legislative fish and game committee who have lined up against the modified bill said it still hits hunters and anglers of modest means too hard.

“I represent one of the poorest areas in the state. The increases on permits would put some of these people in the hinterland out of commission,” said Rep. Richard Tracy, D-Rome.

The heart of the proposal is a requirement that 18 percent of the game department’s budget come from general state tax funds. That would add $2.5 million in general fund money to the $1.4 million the game agency already gets from that source.

While the added general funding in the bill cannot bind the next Legislature, it at least spells out a policy, said Rep. Matthew Dunlap, D-Old Town, House chairman of the fish and game committee.

The bill would increase bear-hunting permits from $5 to $25 for residents and from $10 to $75 for nonresidents. Migratory waterfowl permits, or duck stamps, would rise from $2.50 to $5.50.

ATV registration fees would rise from $12 across the board to $17 for residents and $35 for nonresidents, with much of the money going to clubs for trail construction and maintenance.

Turkey permits, which are now free, would cost $10 for residents and $40 for nonresidents. A separate law expands Maine’s spring-only season to the fall as well.

The bill raises certain bass tournament fees from $28 to $50 per day, clarifies fees for three-year guide licenses, and encourages more doe hunting in districts where a larger harvest is needed.

The game department would sell for $10 each leftover doe permits in areas where not all of those are sold for the regular firearms season.

In addition, the bill authorizes the department to issue $19 wildlife-watching permits to those who wish to pay. The fees in effect would be contributions and not required for activities such as bird-watching and moose watching.

The bill also would authorize the state to sell 10 chances for moose hunting permits for $50 to nonresidents, who now can buy six chances for $30.

The bill seeks further study of streamlining Maine’s fish and game fee system.

Dunlap said Maine is among many states whose game departments are dogged by cash-flow problems because they don’t get General Fund help and encounter fierce opposition to license and fee hikes.

Yet outdoor-sporting opportunities supported by hunters’ and anglers’ fees generate tens of millions of dollars in state taxes for the General Fund, says the game department.

Dunlap also notes that while the game department’s staff has not grown measurably in the last three decades, its responsibilities have multiplied while license increases have not kept pace with inflation.

“Essentially, we’re offering five times the level of service for two-thirds the money in real dollars,” Dunlap said.