Idaho Fish and Game seeks to raise license, tag costs

About 750,000 Idaho residents, or nearly 47 percent of the state’s population, consider themselves hunters or anglers. Yet less than half of them buy hunting or fishing licenses each year.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials want to increase annual participation in hunting and fishing with the goal of raising additional revenue.

In a proposal to the Legislature, the agency is offering a financial incentive. Fish and Game officials will ask legislators to approve a 15 to 20 percent increase in the cost of licenses, tags and permits for resident hunters and anglers starting in 2016. However, people who purchase a license this year, and keep buying them annually, could lock in current prices for the next three to five years.

The strategy rewards the department’s most loyal customers, with the intent of developing more of them, said Virgil Moore, Fish and Game’s director.

The department sells about 330,000 resident hunting and fishing licenses annually, with sales peaking during years with high steelhead returns or forecasts for good deer and elk seasons. But only about 30 percent of license purchasers buy them for consecutive years.

“We’d like to reduce the number of hunters and anglers that churn, and keep them buying a license every year,” Moore said.

The price hike, if approved, would raise about $1 million in new revenue for the department, and it would be the first increase since 2005. Getting 10 percent more hunters and anglers to purchase licenses in a given year would raise an additional $1 million.

“I’m optimistic that we’re going to exceed the 10 percent, but until we try it, we won’t know,” Moore said. “We’re the first state to try this.”

The agency would need a three- to five-year test period to see if the incentive works, he said.

This is the second year that Fish and Game has put the proposal before Idaho’s Legislature. Last year, the bill failed to get a committee hearing during the session’s tax-averse, pre-election atmosphere. Moore said he’s more optimistic about the proposal’s chances this year.

“I’m anxious for the legislative committees to hear what we have to say,” he said. “Right now, our revenue is not keeping up with inflation.” As a result, the agency has cut down on stocking fish and the number of big game surveys.

Brad Corkhill, North Idaho’s representative on the state Fish and Game Commission, will be meeting with hunting and fishing groups later this month to hear their thoughts.

“I think it’s a pretty good approach,” he said. “Nobody likes to raise prices, but it’s a fact of life. This rewards loyalty, and it locks in prices for several years.”

Local legislators gave the proposal mixed reviews.

“It’s worth looking at … I realize they need more revenue,” said state Rep. Ron Mendive, R-Coeur d’Alene, who heard a presentation on the proposal last month and expects it to receive a vetting in the House Resources committee.

Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, said he’d be reluctant to vote for a fee increase, though “I’d certainly listen to what the agency has to say before making a decision.” He’s the co-chair of the Senate Resources Committee.

About $35 million in Fish and Game’s proposed $95 million budget comes from license sales and other fees, Moore said. The agency also gets about $15 million annually from a federal excise tax on guns, ammunition, archery and fishing equipment. That money is distributed to states based on license sales.