By Dennis Carlson – Helena
HELENA — Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials are vetting a plan to boost hunting and fishing fees in order to meet a project $5-million dollar a year budget shortfall that is set to hit in 2017.
What will it cost? An $8 increase on a base hunting license, and $6 increase for a fishing license.
FWP is hosting public meetings across the state asking for input on the increase before they take the plan to the next Montana Legislature.
The agency looks at their fees every ten years.
If they don’t get a fee increase, the agency says is could be faced with a budget cut, or redirection of funding.
Ron Aasheim with Montana FWP says, “We did use federal funding to replace license dollars. We have what we call Pitman-Robertson money that we could do that with. We’re getting to the point where we can’t do a lot more with that. We’ve been pretty conservative, we’ve tried to make ends meet and in good faith have tried to be more effecient.”
The next public meeting on the proposal will be in Helena on Tuesday, May 20, beginning at 7 p.m. at Montana Wild located at 2668 Broadwater Avenue.
There will be a short presentation and then questions and answers with the public.
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