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February 23, 1999
It has been an interesting week at the Statehouse and a bad week for the F&G Department. HB 66 and HB 67 were both defeated in the House Resource Committee last week. These were the two F&G fee increase proposals. It should have been painfully clear to those that showed up to testify in behalf of these two bills that the outcome had been predetermined. If there is any blame for these two defeats, the F&G Commission and Director Mealey should shoulder that responsibility. They did a miserable job of selling the need for these increases to the average sportsmen in Idaho.
According to their own poll, 59% of sportsmen didn・t support raising their license fees to support the Department. The Commission had over a year to convince sportsmen of the need for fee increases and they did a terrible job of showing that need and explaining their budget. Director Mealey formed a "Starting Point Committee" last fall in an attempt to gather support for a fee increase. Too little and too late. This committee worked under a "crisis" management philosophy that always had a short deadline to meet. This committee should have been organized 6 months earlier if the F&G had really been looking for input from sportsmen.
Then in the middle of the legislative session Director Mealey gets involved in a political dispute with the Governors office. This lack of leadership at the Department is ruining the Department and eroding the support of sportsmen through out the state. It is an embarrassment to all of us. With just about every newspaper in the state asking for the F&G Director to resign, you wonder why the Commission continues to support him?
Now HB 277 has been crafted that would attempt to salvage a plan for a F&G fee increase that would come in three stages. We hope that the Commission haven・t compromised their responsibilities in some last gasp effort to secure a fee increase.
HB 277 would provide 4.4 million dollars to the F&G budget after the three phases are complete. The first phase would go into effect on May 1st, 1999. Some of the increase are: hunting license $10, fishing license $18, Sportspak $100, deer tag $16, elk tag $23, bear tag $10, archery permit $16 and moose tag $90. The second phase would start on January 1st, 2000. The fees then would be: hunting license $14, fishing $21, Sportspak $118, deer tag $17, elk tag $25, bear tag $14, archery permit $17 and sheep tag $120. The third phase would start on January 1st, 2001 and the fees would be: hunting license $19, fishing $23, Sportspak $137, deer tag $17.50, elk tag $27, bear $17.50, archery $17.50 and mountain goat tag $150.
HOUSE BILL NO. 277 - F&G, licenses, fees
I hope this doesn・t drive some sportsmen from hunting as this is going to get pretty expensive. To go archery hunting just for elk in 2001 will cost a hunter $63.50. For a family of 3 or 4 it is going to be very expensive.
The problem with this fee increase is the lack of public input into the process. You wonder where they came up with some of these numbers? I only quoted some of the fee increases as every tag and permit has been changed. It appears the legislature is doing the job that the F&G Commission is supposed to be doing. It looks like a few people decided this fee increase schedule behind closed doors and excluded input from Idaho sportsmen. It is our money and we should have a say in how much and where the money is spent. That didn・t happen.
The second and third phases of this fee increase will require legislative action and you wonder what "hoops" the F&G will have to jump through in order to receive those fee increases.
Looks like a great opportunity for the legislature to influence the F&G・s decisions by threatening to withhold their money. It also appears that the legislature is seriously considering creating a new agency to manage threatened and endangered species. This agency would report to the Governor・s office. This might not be such a bad idea depending on where the money comes from to fund this agency. If sportsmen are required to pay for it from F&G funds, then it is a poor idea.
If the funding comes from general state funds or federal money, then this idea has some merit. Managing endangered species and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is more of a political issue than a biological issue. Decisions on wolves, bulltrout, lynx, sagegrouse, salmon and grizzlies should be decided by the political leaders of the state using the best data available from all interested parties.
When a species is listed the Federal Government assumes the responsibility for the management of that species and the state political leaders are in a better position to deal with these federal agencies than the F&G Department. This is an idea that will take some getting used to, but if you look at the reality of the ESA it is apparent that the full weight of state government would be more effective than just the F&G.
The ESA is being misused and manipulated by many groups to further their own agenda and sometimes has very little to do with the actual species. The lynx listing is a good example of groups trying to use the lynx as their Trojan Horse to prohibit access to the National Forest. Sagegrouse are being used in an attempt to remove cattle from public lands. It will take the full involvement of Idaho・s state government if we are to work through these tough issues. This agency could be a very effective tool in working with the USFWS and the ESA in Idaho.
HB 262 is another attempt by the Idaho Legislature to circumvent the ESA. This legislation would require the federal government to obtain permission from the legislature before introducing or re-introducing any species into Idaho. This is a good idea but I don・t think the USFWS will be held to any state law that curtails their activities under the ESA. The ESA is a pretty tough piece of federal legislation with strict guidelines.
HB 11 was defeated in the House Agriculture Committee. This bill would have discontinued the requirement for the F&G to provide $100,000 to the Caine Vet Center.
HB 277 will be heard in the House Resource Committee on Thursday, February 25th. The phone numbers to call are 332-1000 or 1-800-626-0471. The e-mail address is and be sure to include your name and address in any e-mail.
After reviewing the mandatory report card printout, it is pretty obvious that this report isn・t worth the paper it is printed on. The numbers reported are absolutely without any merit. If this is the best you can expect out of this report then F&G should save the $287,000 it cost and eliminate this stupid reporting system.
If any of you are interested you can obtain a copy of this report and look at the numbers for yourselves. Look at unit 38 where 144 deer were shot with rifles. We don・t have a rifle season in unit 38. Look at unit 27 where 83% of the deer were 4 points or better. Deer
regulations in unit 27 required all deer shot to be 4 points or better. There are many more and it just shows that this report couldn・t be used for anything.