IDFG eyes $5 fee on top of license hike

Idaho hunters and anglers could be required to pay an additional $5 on top of a proposed 20 percent fee increase, according to legislation being crafted by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and the department it oversees.

Idaho Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore said the proposal centers on a $5 surcharge that would be placed on the sale of resident licenses and a $10 fee on nonresident licenses.

It would raise an estimated $2 million a year, half of which would go to pay landowners for damage big game does to crops to avoid having to reduce elk and deer herds. The other half would go toward improving access for hunters and anglers.

The portion of the fee going to the depredation program would be split again, with 50 percent going into a fund for compensating farmers and ranchers for crop damage caused by big game animals, and 50 percent toward prevention of such damage.

Fish and Game Deputy Director Ed Schriever said the proposed legislation will be interwoven with the department’s Price Lock fee increase proposal that was rejected last month by Rep. Marcus Gibbs, chairman of the House Resources and Conservation Committee.

The commission-backed fee increase proposal would raise resident hunting and fishing prices by anywhere from $1 to $6 and help the agency keep pace with inflation. Resident fees haven’t risen since 2005.

The Price Lock feature exempts people who purchase licenses every year from paying the higher costs. However, the lock would not apply to the proposed $5 and $10 surcharges.

Commissioner Blake Fischer of Meridian said sportsmen are willing to pay more money to boost hunting and fishing opportunities. “They want their money to go to more animals and more access, and that is what we are creating,” he said.

Though half of the fee will go to address crop damage that is caused by the state’s huntable species of big game animals, people who only purchase fishing licenses also will be required to pay it. In response to possible objections from non-hunting anglers, the department intends to send more of its license revenue toward a fund dedicated to improving fishing in the state.