Idaho's state Fish & Game Department faces various challenges, from federal mandates to funding, Director Cal Groen told JFAC this morning. "Being a user-fee organization, we have many, many people that are benefiting that are not paying," he said.

Among highlights in the past year, he said, "Our sockeye salmon runs continue to improve. Last year's run was the best since 1950." The state's first wolf hunt saw high interest from hunters, he said. "The department is committed to working with ... our congressional delegation getting wolves delisted and back in state management." In the meantime, he said, it has submitted a request for approval for a wolf-kill in the Lolo zone. "We've had excellent fishing around the state," Groen said, with resident fishing licenses up 7 percent, non-resident up 2 percent. Nonresident general season deer and elk tag sales, which had been dropping since 2008, are projected to be up slightly in 2011.

The department receives no state general funds, instead drawing its funding entirely from license and permit revenues along with grants and federal funds. "The 25 percent license buyers, hunting and fishing, they're carrying the burden," Groen told lawmakers. "We need some relief here." The department's goal, he said, is: "If you play, you pay." It's even among the "desired outcomes" in the department's business plan: "All who pay benefit; all who benefit pay." Groen didn't make a specific proposal, but said concepts lawmakers are looking at include a car registration fee surcharge for parks and public areas. "We have so much here," he said. "I'm afraid sometimes we take it for granted."