wyonative
02-14-2007, 10:12 AM
I thought this article might interest hunters and fishermen inWyoming:
Gov. signs bill raising hunting, fishing license fees
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
CHEYENNE (AP) -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed into law a bill raising the fees for state hunting and fishing licenses by 20 percent, but said he was concerned that fees might be getting too high.
The bill was one of four Freudenthal signed Tuesday morning, the first set of bills he's taken action on during this legislative session.
Freudenthal acknowledged that the Game and Fish Department needs additional revenue, but said those buying hunting and fishing licenses are being asked to shoulder the rising costs of other programs.
"It is our hope that the Legislature will recognize that this bill increasing the fees, I really think, approaches the upper limit of what the permit-purchasing public can absorb, and that we're going to have greater and greater assistance from the Legislature to perform the non-game-management functions," he said.
Traditionally, Game and Fish has been self-supporting, using license fees and other revenue to pay for operations and not asking for support from the Legislature. That's changed in recent years as Freudenthal said chronic wasting disease, whirling disease and managing sage grouse habitat, among other tasks, require ever more resources.
"There's about 800 species that they're actually responsible for, and frankly the license income is limited to a much smaller subset of that," Freudenthal said, "and as a consequence to expect them to continue to do their duties we're going to have to look at broader and broader funding sources."
Two other bills, which have not yet reached the governor's desk, would provide supplemental funding for Game and Fish.
The governor also signed bills Tuesday dealing with school facilities, contributions to health insurance for higher education and state property tax assessments.
Gov. signs bill raising hunting, fishing license fees
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
CHEYENNE (AP) -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed into law a bill raising the fees for state hunting and fishing licenses by 20 percent, but said he was concerned that fees might be getting too high.
The bill was one of four Freudenthal signed Tuesday morning, the first set of bills he's taken action on during this legislative session.
Freudenthal acknowledged that the Game and Fish Department needs additional revenue, but said those buying hunting and fishing licenses are being asked to shoulder the rising costs of other programs.
"It is our hope that the Legislature will recognize that this bill increasing the fees, I really think, approaches the upper limit of what the permit-purchasing public can absorb, and that we're going to have greater and greater assistance from the Legislature to perform the non-game-management functions," he said.
Traditionally, Game and Fish has been self-supporting, using license fees and other revenue to pay for operations and not asking for support from the Legislature. That's changed in recent years as Freudenthal said chronic wasting disease, whirling disease and managing sage grouse habitat, among other tasks, require ever more resources.
"There's about 800 species that they're actually responsible for, and frankly the license income is limited to a much smaller subset of that," Freudenthal said, "and as a consequence to expect them to continue to do their duties we're going to have to look at broader and broader funding sources."
Two other bills, which have not yet reached the governor's desk, would provide supplemental funding for Game and Fish.
The governor also signed bills Tuesday dealing with school facilities, contributions to health insurance for higher education and state property tax assessments.