Why It Matters: Revenue generated by sportsmen and women purchasing their licenses and tags is the foundation of the American System of Conservation Funding. However, as years pass, the costs that state fish and wildlife agencies incur while carrying out their missions exceed the revenue generated from these license and tag purchases, and legislatures must sometimes revisit the fee structure to ensure that natural resources are properly managed.
Highlights:
- Michigan Senate Bills 276 and 277 were voted out of the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee last week.
- The bills were championed through the bipartisan leadership of Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs Senator John Cherry and Senator Jon Bumstead.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Assistant Manager, Midwestern States Bob Matthews testified before the Committee in support of the bills, which ensure that hunting and fishing license and tag fees are sufficient to cover the increasing costs of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ work.
For the second time this legislative session, CSF provided oral testimony in favor of two Michigan bills that are designed to bolster revenue for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to carry out its mission of managing the state’s storied fish and wildlife resources. Michigan Senate Bills 276 and 277 were introduced and championed by Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs Senator John Cherry and Senator Jon Bumstead. The bills increase the fee for various hunting and fishing license fees, while keeping the cost for residents to hunt and fish in Michigan below the regional average compared to other states.
Sportsmen and women are the backbone of conservation funding in America, but without any adjustments to license and tag fees in more than a decade, the operational costs of the DNR have outpaced the revenue that Michigan hunters and anglers produce. The DNR faces increased costs in staffing; fish raising, transportation, and stocking; habitat management; enforcement of fish and game laws; and providing public access infrastructure. A summary and analysis of the proposed increases can be found here. However, even with these modest adjustments, Michigan would remain one of the least expensive states for residents to hunt and fish in the Great Lakes region.
Further, the package would alleviate an unintended technical hang-up that prohibited the state agency from being reimbursed for discounted licenses, even though the mechanism has been in place for decades. Reimbursing state fish and wildlife agencies for the revenue lost from these discounts is another CSF policy priority, which serves to lower participation barriers for deserving groups without sacrificing conservation funding.
CSF applauds the bipartisan leadership that the Caucus Co-Chairs have demonstrated with these bills, and will continue to support the legislation as it makes its way to the Senate floor for consideration by the full legislative body.
