Show Me Da Money!

[Lee Borgersen]

Minnesota’s Game and Fish Fund faces looming budget deficit. pouty-1023.gif


  ....
A deficit is looming in the fund that provides most of the dollars for Minnesota’s fish and wildlife programs, and it’s projected to go into the red as soon as next year. That could mean deep cuts to programs that are important to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans unless lawmakers take action. Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to make a proposal for addressing the problem when he releases his budget plan Tuesday. Here’s a look at some of the issues:

THE GAME AND FISH FUND: Money comes into the state’s Game and Fish Fund from a variety of sources, but the biggest are fishing and hunting license fees. The money flows to programs at the Department of Natural Resources that provide hunting and fishing opportunities, protect fish and wildlife, improve habitat, as well as outreach efforts to grow the ranks of Minnesotans who fish and hunt. That works out to about $110 million in spending in the current fiscal year.


None of the money currently comes from the state’s general fund. But revenues have been falling short of spending by about $3.3 million a year. If that trend continues, the Game and Fish Fund is expected to drop into negative territory sometime after mid-2018. The fund can’t legally operate in the red, so the DNR would have to start cutting before that happens.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS: DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr declined to discuss specifics of the administration’s proposal before Dayton releases his budget. But the official Game and Fish Fund Budgetary Oversight Committee has recommended a comprehensive funding package that includes higher fees for fishing and hunting licenses, ice fishing houses and the like to ensure the solvency of the fund for the next decade. The committee also recommended tapping the general fund since some fish and wildlife programs benefit all residents.

The chairman of that panel, John Lenczewski, executive director of Minnesota Trout Unlimited, said he doesn’t know what Dayton will propose. But he said fee increases and general fund money could be a tough sell to lawmakers.

“I think in general the public is supportive, but a lot of legislators think, ‘I can’t vote for a tax increase or a fee increase,’ even if people are clamoring for it,” Lenczewski said.

THE LAST TIME: License fees went up in 2013 for the first time in 12 years. For residents, the annual fishing license rose from $17 to $22, the deer hunting license went from $26 to $30. But it took a major push from sporting groups to get it passed by legislators in 2012, after a similar push failed a year before.

These increases don’t usually pass on the first try, Lenczewski said. And even last time, he pointed, the Legislature didn’t approve the full package that the DNR sought, which would have kept the Game and Fish fund in the black for several more years.

“So we’re back at it again,” he said.

IT’S NOT JUST MINNESOTA: Wisconsin’s DNR faces a similar problem with its Fish and Wildlife Account, so the agency proposed fee increases earlier this month. The agency puts its fund’s annual shortfall at ONLY $4 million to $6 million.  tut_tut-3315.gif

A Wisconsin DNR report said 17 states have raised hunting and fishing fees since 2013. But Wisconsin hasn’t done it in a decade, and even longer for some licenses. The proposal faces an uncertain future in a legislature that’s considering breaking up the agency.

Minnesota DNR Game and Fish Fund information can be found online.




Minnesota Department of Natural Resources staff members Brad Carlson, left, and Dave Coahran remove walleyes Thursday, April 16, 2015 from nets set on Diamond Lake near Atwater, Minn. The fish are transported to the DNR’s hatchery in New London where eggs are collected, fertilized and hatched.

 

[The General]

Yep raise the license fees that will bring more people to the sport.

How about they trim the fat first. 

[delcecchi]

How about $50 for a spearing license...

Works for me.

[mike89]

How about $50 for a spearing license...

Works for me.

not me, why do I have buy 2nd licence when I have one all ready!!!  same rules apply no matter what all ready.  and the spear chuckers have all ready show respect all the way around!  I can see party  hunting done before anything.  so I'm not sure about your your laugh at the end.  just wondering. 

[glenn57]

MIKE.......Dels just poking at me cause he knows I be an avid spearchucker!!!!!!!!!! thanks to the darkhouse association a while back they lobbied to reduce the price. used the same phlyosopy as the pheasant stamp, trout stanp.....etc.

and of course it doesn't affect him so why should he care!!!!!!!!

[Gunner55]

Gotta agree glenn. Been doin my part, a season long non-resident license is $45 now plus I've been buying the $5 walleye stamp the last 3-4 years. WTH, after the price of a license is another $5 & besides they might actually get to do something they want with that money. Instead of wasting it on the people who do nothing but sit in St. Paul & tell them what to do. 

[Rebel SS]

MIKE.......Dels just poking at me cause he knows I be an avid spearchucker!!!!!!!!!! thanks to the darkhouse association a while back they lobbied to reduce the price. used the same phlyosopy as the pheasant stamp, trout stanp.....etc.

and of course it doesn't affect him so why should he care!!!!!!!!

He just sticks his soused up verde tool down the hole and they come right up! 

[mike89]

sounds good to me, have a good day all!!

[delcecchi]

MIKE.......Dels just poking at me cause he knows I be an avid spearchucker!!!!!!!!!! thanks to the darkhouse association a while back they lobbied to reduce the price. used the same phlyosopy as the pheasant stamp, trout stanp.....etc.

and of course it doesn't affect him so why should he care!!!!!!!!

Nah.   I just think spearing Northern Pike is a barbaric relic of the days when they were considered to be trash.   Or else allow spearing of bass and walleye, both through the ice and in open water with mask and snorkel.     And netting is a tradition too.   We net whitefish and tulibees, why not walleye?   

[glenn57]

The natives net enough walleyes for all of us. Look at mille lacs!

Where have you been? Alot of people still think there trash! pouty-1023.gif it's legal and I enjoy watching how fish behave!

[delcecchi]

The natives net enough walleyes for all of us. Look at mille lacs!

Where have you been? Alot of people still think there trash! pouty-1023.gif it's legal and I enjoy watching how fish behave!

Yet the state is on a kick to restore the Northern size structure in many lakes, meanwhile doing away with the slot for the stabbers.   Cognitive dissonance.

[glenn57]

yea well thats hit a snag!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mike89]

what snag Glenn?

[glenn57]

something to do with some laws, its been a bit since i read that!!!!!!!!! as far as i know it WILL NOT take effect this soft water season!

[Rebel SS]

Nothing on the books for that in Minnesota THIS past year. Wisconsin may be a different story. A Mn DNR suggested  spearing link:

http://www.mndarkhouse.org/News.htm

[mike89]

thanks Glenn, Rebel that is interesting reading.  but some of it sounds off to me.  not sure why, have to think about it for awhile.

[delcecchi]

http://www.startribune.com/dnr-sets-new-rules-for-northern-limits-in-three-zones-come-may/413361693/

• In the Northeast zone (east of Hwy. 53, running between Duluth and International Falls), anglers can possess two northerns, with one over 40 inches. Northern 30 inches to 40 inches must be released.
• In the North-Central zone (west of U.S. Hwy. 53 and north of state Hwy. 7 beginning in Ortonville, east past Hutchinson, south on state Hwy. 22 to Glencoe, east on U.S. Hwy 212 to Chaska, south on state Hwy. 41 to the Minnesota River to the Mississippi River), the northern limit will be 10, with two longer than 26 inches. Northerns 22-26 inches must be released.


Cut and pasted.....
...
Here are the new pike spearing regulations:
• In the Northeast, the possession limit is two, one of which can be longer than 26 inches.

In the North-central, the limit is 10, with one between 22-26 inches and one over 26 inches. Alternatively, the limit is 10 with two longer than 26 inches.

[Rebel SS]

There, that'll teach ya, Glenn! Ya shoulda just asked!!! 

[glenn57]

  whatever. I seen it wasn't happening this year. confused-3316.gif

[mike89]

yet to see I suppose.

[Auggie]

The money increase isn't what bothers me. For the most part it's not huge. The sled one is a little out of line, especially when many trails are maintained by a local club. I'm lucky to get 50 miles a year on mine. I just wish they would spend a little more wisely. But that can be said for all government. Wish in one hand, $hit in the other......tell ya which one fills up first