Why It Matters: Each year, legislators across the country and in West Virginia, introduce well-meaning legislation that provides free and discounted hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses for certain qualified individuals/groups. However, these initiatives have the potential to have negative impacts on the state’s fish and wildlife agency’s budget. To prevent the loss of sportsmen-generated dollars for conservation funding, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) encourages legislators to introduce legislation that would reimburse the state’s fish and wildlife agency for lost revenue directly linked to the loss of revenue (conservation dollars) from free and discounted licenses.
Highlights:
- Senate Bill 152 (SB 152) and Senate Bill 153 (SB 153) are two examples of legislation that has been recently introduced that will give specific groups/individuals free hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses.
- States must receive a net revenue of $2.00 from each license sale to report a certified license holder which qualifies for additional federal funds.
- The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) receives funding from sportsmen and women generated dollars through the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF).
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation is submitting a letter to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources requesting an amendment that includes the reimbursement model language, as this is a key priority for CSF.
From the cold-water streams that are home to some of the nation’s most stunning wild and native brook trout to the eastern turkey once again roaming the mountain ranges, “The Mountain State” is littered with magnificent wildlife and natural resources that must be actively conserved. Legislation that impacts conservation funding, though usually unintentional, poses a risk to our beloved natural resources.
SB 152 seeks to give a waiver of license fees for emergency responders disabled in the line of duty, while SB 153 seeks to waive license fees for municipal volunteer firefighters. While this legislation is likely intended to commend emergency responders for their hard work and dedication to their communities, it comes at a significant cost to the DNR and ultimately conservation funding which in turn directly impacts wildlife, their habitats, and the users of the state’s natural resources, you. This is why reimbursement legislation is necessary in preventing the further loss of sportsmen-generated dollars for conservation funding by requiring reimbursements to the state fish and wildlife agencies from the general funds for any free and discounted licenses. It is important to note that such legislation is not retroactive and would only apply to any free/discounted licenses passed after the legislation’s effective date.
State agencies are primarily funded by sportsmen and women generated dollars (license fees) along with federal match dollars through the Pittman-Robertson (PR) and Dingell-Johnson (DJ) Acts. The PR and DJ Acts are two ASCF cornerstones that authorize federal funding for state fish and wildlife agencies to manage and restore wildlife resources and their habitats. The distribution of these funds is formula-based and dependent on state size and the number of paid hunting and fishing license holders per state. This means that states who distribute free, or in some cases discounted, licenses are losing funds both from the initial revenue of license sales, as well as from funds that would be appropriated under PR and DJ.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation looks forward to working with the WV Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus to protect conservation funding. Sportsmen and women are the boots-on-the-ground conservationists, and it is imperative that legislators continue to protect conservation funding for the state wildlife experts, such as the WV DNR.
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