A rally supporting an increase in hunting and fishing license fees was held Monday morning at the state Capitol. A bill supporting the fees hike was OK’d by the state Senate on Monday afternoon.
Coincidence?
Baxter’s Greg Kvale doesn’t think so.
Kvale, who as a member of Anglers for Habitat helped organize Monday’s rally in the rotunda at the state Capitol, drove with seven others from the Brainerd area — including fishing icon Al Lindner — early Monday morning to make some noise at a crucial stage for the bill.
Under the bill, a resident individual fishing license would go from $17 to $22, a small game license from $19 to $22 and a deer hunting license from $26 to $30. Nonresident hunting and fishing licenses also would go up.
License fees haven’t been raised since 2001, and the DNR says that without the increases, the state’s Game and Fish Fund could go into the red by July 2013. Among other things, the fund pays for fish stocking and enforcement and management of wildlife areas, and without the increases cuts to staff and programs could come by the end of the current legislative session, the DNR said.
The bill was dealt a blow early last week when an attempt to amend the fee bill language into the Senate game and fish policy bill failed on a floor vote, so a rally in support of the effort was much needed.
“It did pass out of the Senate this afternoon. So the timing couldn’t have been better,” Kvale said of the rally, which he said was attended by upward of 100 outdoors advocates from a number of game-and-fish-related groups. “It goes to a conference committee next, where they’ll hammer out the differences. I’m assuming the conference committee will be named by this time next week. Then it goes to the governor. There are still quite a few hoops to go through.”
Lindner was the guest host at the rally and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, who authored the bill, and Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, who chairs the House environment committee, were guests.
“I think so,” Kvale said when asked if he thought the rally had an impact on the Senate vote, which was 36-30 in favor of the bill. “I think it (the rally) was about as timely as you could get. It couldn’t have worked out any better. It came together just perfect. It was well-received. Everybody was upbeat.
“Al (Lindner) chastised the legislators that we have to go through this effort to get an increase that we all want.”
According to Kvale, the location of the rally — in the rotunda — made for a visible effort.
“If you were walking from one spot to another in the Legislature you saw it, And a couple of groups of kids were there — we had them cheering. There was no opposition shown to it and good representation from all the groups.”
The bill also could allow for wolf hunting in the state after the species came off the endangered species list in January. A proposal to move the fishing opener up a week was dropped and also will be decided by a House-Senate conference committee.
BRIAN S. PETERSON may be reached at brian.peterson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864. To follow him on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/brian_speterson. For his blogs, go to www.brainerddispatch.com.
Comments (9)
Add commentRepublicans are no friends of hunters
Both Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria and Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings excluded 300,000 hunters and 1.7 million non-hunting dog owners from the political process when they refused to allow a hearing for Rep Ward and Senator Wigers bills to protect our dogs.
Their attitude is that trappers only kill a few dozen dogs each year so there's no reason to change.
Fish ... you are the most
Fish ... you are the most obtuse person I have ever heard from. Something positive happened that is supported by everyone and you just automatically start hating on Republicans. I am not even sure you read what you post. You should be happy Republicans just voted to increase fees.
Where'd the money go?
The element missing from this story and from the larger picture is what did the DNR do with the money earmarked to run the Game and Fish Fund. Or was there not enough money earmarked for the fund? Or did someone looking for a way to justify more taxpayer money for the DNR stop paying for the fund, sort of like public school officials wanting to pass a bond referendum tell everyone they're going to drop football. The puzzling element remains; why those who want more people to fish and hunt want to raise the price of licenses which would not encourage people to hunt and fish, just the opposite. We need more information, not less. Very curious.
Republicans Must Be Friends Of Sportsman ?
How else would you explain the 4 thousand orange political signs pounded in the ground everywhere between Brainerd & Ely in 2010 that proclaimed " Sportsman for Cravaack " ? Unless that was part of the NRAs Grand Old Plan to enhance the image of the GOP party. I wonder what Chip hunts in New Hampshire ?
Good news would be after 11 years the DNR got some increases to help pay for the important service.s they provide.
Just like everything else
Hey prices go up. Cost of living goes up. Of course the licensing fees go up too. Why wouldn't they. I guess lakes restock themselves. Oh the vehicles gas themselves as well. Its been 11 at current rates thats a good run isn't it? It's not really that noticeable an increase. Stop your whining if you want to hunt and fish pay the fees.
Also its not a "Republican/Democrat issue". It is simply a "it's time to finally raise prices, so that we can continue to operate issue"
Are some of you just determined to always be negative? The sun is shining enjoy it and smile.
Yes it shouldn't be a partisan issue but the GOP can get past it
The republicans have to spread those "sportsman for..." signs and bumper stickers around to try to get us to ignore the facts.
Their support for hunting stops at gun ownership. To them habitat is just wasteland waiting to be developed and clean water is just a luxury.
If you don't believe me watch the votes. They even voted against increasing the penalties for people who deliberately spread zebra mussels. They didn't even seem to grasp that it lowers property values or maybe they did and thought that property owners should just "accept it" like a dead dog in a trap.
Watch the video of the recent vote on the House floor and you'll be disgusted at the behavior. It was like a back slapping frat boy party with power drunk legislators who didn't seem to grasp the importance of any of the votes. The only thing that mattered was flexing their muscles and cracking jokes.
deliberately spread zebra mussels???
Tough to enforce for one fish...Do you really think the goal of boaters is to spend a weekend "Up North" to enjoy the outdoors and deliberately spread invasive species while doing so?
The Wisdom of Deyonne11
Ah, prices go up. Economic wisdom abounds. But the rest of us accept that prices go up as a matter of the way things are, don't we? Don't we want to know why? Computer prices have dropped, airline prices, houses (my house in particular), clothing, all sorts of goods and services have come down in price unless their price is affected or supported by the monopoly of government. A surgeon friend of mine may be getting out of medicine; part of the reason, government intrusion into this private market has caused prices to sky-rocket and payment to those who provide the service to fall through the floor. Take a peek at our future.
The Wisdom of Deyonne11
Ah, prices go up. Economic wisdom abounds. But the rest of us accept that prices go up as a matter of the way things are, don't we? Don't we want to know why? Computer prices have dropped, airline prices, houses (my house in particular), clothing, all sorts of goods and services have come down in price unless their price is affected or supported by the monopoly of government. A surgeon friend of mine may be getting out of medicine; part of the reason, government intrusion into this private market has caused prices to sky-rocket and payment to those who provide the service to fall through the floor. Take a peek at our future.