Despite proposed license fee increases, Washington wildlife officials are bracing for budget cuts

Washington hunters and anglers are preparing to pay more for licenses after a pair of bills that increase fees cleared the Legislature in its closing days last week.

Before they adjourned, lawmakers gave final approval to the bill that raises hunting and fishing license fees by roughly 38%. They also OK’d another that reinstates the Columbia River Endorsement, a fee charged to anglers who target salmon and steelhead in the Columbia drainage.

Those two bills, which still need signatures from Gov. Bob Ferguson before becoming law, are expected to bring in big bucks for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But they come against the backdrop of a statewide budget crisis, and WDFW officials are still bracing for major budget cuts under the spending plan lawmakers sent to the governor Sunday.

Morgan Stinson, WDFW’s chief financial officer, sent an email to staff late Monday detailing the proposed cuts under the Legislature’s $77.8 billion proposal for the next two years.

Stinson wrote that while it is not final until Ferguson signs it, the budget includes “reductions of tens of millions of dollars and dozens of (full-time equivalents) to specific areas of our work.”

He wrote that while there is new revenue from the fee increases, the river endorsement and two other measures, the money replaces cuts to the agency’s share of the state general fund.

“Unfortunately, none of the bills will provide additional capacity for the Department but instead mitigate against further reductions,” Stinson wrote.

The biggest cut under the proposed budget would be $4.42 million from WDFW’s hatchery production evaluation program, an item funded in 2022 to improve hatchery fish survival and monitor the state’s fish production.

Other cuts include pulling $2 million from WDFW’s biodiversity work, $1.6 million from salmon and steelhead monitoring and entirely defunding the Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account grant program, among others.

Cuts were viewed as an inevitability during this legislative session as lawmakers tried to deal with a $16 billion budget shortfall. They also looked for ways to raise revenue, and the final budget package included a combination of new taxes and budget cuts to balance the state’s finances.

Ferguson said in a statement Sunday that he would review the budget over the next few weeks.

Hunting and fishing license fees haven’t been raised since 2011. Alexei Calambokidis, the Washington state policy lead for Trout Unlimited, said the increases in the bill that passed last week represent a “right-sizing” to the prices that should be used given inflation and other cost increases to the state.

That said, he acknowledges it’s going to sting.

“I think it’s going to be a shock for people buying hunting and fishing licenses,” Calambokidis said.

Under the bill, which would take effect July 1 if Ferguson signs it, a combination fishing license would increase from $45.50 to $62.79. A big game deer and elk hunting license would go from $75 to $103.50.

The fiscal analysis of the bill estimates the new fees will net the agency about $10.2 million annually. But it also cautions that the increases will turn off some hunters and anglers, and it assumes an 11% reduction in license sales.

Some hunters and anglers were critical of the bill because of the size of the increase all at once, arguing it should be phased in over multiple years. Amendments attempting to do that failed to gain support.

The bill reinstating the Columbia River endorsement would revive a fee that expired in 2019.

Starting Jan. 1, WDFW would charge an additional $7.50 annually to anglers who target salmon or steelhead in the Columbia River between Rocky Point and the Chief Joseph Dam or on any of its tributaries.

Nello Picinich, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association, said the endorsement was originally put in place to help raise money for improving the Columbia River fishery with the caveat that Oregon and Washington officials would work toward ending commercial gillnetting on the river.

Picinich said ending gillnetting became less of a priority for officials over the years, and his organization pulled its support of the endorsement.

When it resurfaced this session, his group initially opposed it but advocated for amendments they thought would make it better, including an expiration date of Jan. 1, 2028.

The bill’s fiscal note estimates it would bring in about $1.3 million annually.

A bill to increase Discover Pass costs to $45 will also provide a boost to WDFW, which splits that revenue with the Department of Natural Resources and Washington State Parks. The agency’s own revenue raising proposal also passed – an increase in fees for personalized license plate fees.

Picinich said the license fee increases are tough to swallow, but he doesn’t want the agency slashed to the bone.

“We don’t want to lose essential services,” Picinich said.

Dan Wilson, co-chair of the Washington chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said in a statement that the fee increases were necessary, but that they hit people at a time when “access and opportunity are already harder to find.”

He also said WDFW would benefit from a more varied funding base.

“Hunters and anglers have long disproportionately funded the wildlife and public lands we all value,” Wilson said. “Washington is fortunate for their dedication, but it’s also clear we need broader, more sustainable funding to secure our natural heritage for the future.”