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LICENSE FEE HIKE AND MORE -- Jim Matthews column 03dec03
DFG fees going up for 2004
Outdoor News Service
When hunters or fishermen would call me to whine about the cost of licenses, tags and stamps, I would always tell them these fees to hunt and fish in California were a bargain at twice the price. I still believe it -- even with the increases for next year announced by the Department of Fish and Game this week.
An annual fishing license at the 2004 price of $31.25 is a near-free pass to fish some of the nation's best freshwater and ocean fisheries. It breaks down to pennies a day and funds a wide range of research and stocking programs, law enforcement, and habitat improvement. If you catch just 10 trout a year, you've more than paid for the cost that license if you were to simply go to the store and buy 10 rainbows for a couple of dinners.
But a large number of hunters and fishermen still think everything should be free, and they whine with every license increase, every entrance fee, every special stamp that funds their pet hunting or fishing program. These are the same guys who leave hook wrappers, worm containers, and empty shotgun shells shrewn about -- apparently believing those paltry fees also pay for a janitor to follow them around and clean up their trash. I like the license, stamp and tag fees and I think they should be more. A lot more. Maybe we'd weed out the people who don't truly appreciate our tremendous public land hunting and fishing heritage.
The 2004 fee increases are too modest to do that. The annual fishing license increase is just $2 ($29.25 to $31.25), and the annual hunting license jumps only $1.50 from $29.75 to $31.25. Ocean-only licenses are gone, but one- and two-day licenses are valid in the ocean or fresh water. There are other modest fee increases, but the biggest jump came with pig hunting tags. This year, you could buy a book of five tags for $8.75. Starting July 1, 2004, they will cost $15 each, a theoretical increase of nearly 900 percent.
If the fishing license fee increased around nine times, to $275, would you buy one? I've purchased non-resident hunting licenses for more than that and didn't get to use them as long or with as much success as my California fishing license. I'd buy one in a heartbeat, and dream of what the DFG could do with the extra dough.
DFG fees going up for 2004
Outdoor News Service
When hunters or fishermen would call me to whine about the cost of licenses, tags and stamps, I would always tell them these fees to hunt and fish in California were a bargain at twice the price. I still believe it -- even with the increases for next year announced by the Department of Fish and Game this week.
An annual fishing license at the 2004 price of $31.25 is a near-free pass to fish some of the nation's best freshwater and ocean fisheries. It breaks down to pennies a day and funds a wide range of research and stocking programs, law enforcement, and habitat improvement. If you catch just 10 trout a year, you've more than paid for the cost that license if you were to simply go to the store and buy 10 rainbows for a couple of dinners.
But a large number of hunters and fishermen still think everything should be free, and they whine with every license increase, every entrance fee, every special stamp that funds their pet hunting or fishing program. These are the same guys who leave hook wrappers, worm containers, and empty shotgun shells shrewn about -- apparently believing those paltry fees also pay for a janitor to follow them around and clean up their trash. I like the license, stamp and tag fees and I think they should be more. A lot more. Maybe we'd weed out the people who don't truly appreciate our tremendous public land hunting and fishing heritage.
The 2004 fee increases are too modest to do that. The annual fishing license increase is just $2 ($29.25 to $31.25), and the annual hunting license jumps only $1.50 from $29.75 to $31.25. Ocean-only licenses are gone, but one- and two-day licenses are valid in the ocean or fresh water. There are other modest fee increases, but the biggest jump came with pig hunting tags. This year, you could buy a book of five tags for $8.75. Starting July 1, 2004, they will cost $15 each, a theoretical increase of nearly 900 percent.
If the fishing license fee increased around nine times, to $275, would you buy one? I've purchased non-resident hunting licenses for more than that and didn't get to use them as long or with as much success as my California fishing license. I'd buy one in a heartbeat, and dream of what the DFG could do with the extra dough.
