Why It Matters: Through the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses and tags, sportsmen and women provide the foundation for the American System of Conservation Funding. However, over time, the operational costs of state fish and wildlife agencies can 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:
- The Michigan State Senate approved Senate Bills 276 and 277 last week, sending the bills to the Michigan House of Representatives for further consideration.
- The bills were introduced and championed by bipartisan leadership of the Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) provided oral testimony in two separate Senate Committee hearings and will continue to support the bills in the House.
Last month, CSF provided testimony in the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of two bills, SB 276 and SB 277, which update Michigan’s hunting and fishing license fee structure while keeping the cost for residents to hunt and fish in Michigan below the regional average compared to other states, as well as alleviate a procedural snag that has stopped the Michigan DNR from being reimbursed for discounted licenses for a quarter-century. The bills, which were introduced and championed by Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chairs Senator John Cherry and Senator Jon Bumstead, passed a floor vote in the State Senate last week and now head across the Capitol rotunda to the Michigan House of Representatives.
Sportsmen and women are the original conservationists and the backbone of conservation funding in America, but without any adjustments to license and tag fees since 2014, the growing operational costs of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have outpaced the license and tag revenue that Michigan hunters and anglers generate. With increased costs including staffing; fish raising, transportation and stocking; habitat management; enforcement of fish and game laws; and providing public access infrastructure, these bills would install modest adjustments that would generate an additional $29 million for the DNR to continue managing Michigan’s storied natural resources into the future. A summary and analysis of the proposed increases can be found here.
Further, the package would alleviate an unintended language snag that has 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.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation will continue to support the passage of these bills and other pieces of legislation that empower state fish and wildlife agencies to conserve the wildlife resources that hunters, anglers, and trappers have pursued for generations.
