License fees

[ted stehney]

Last week during the LSCWA meeting they announced the hunting and fishing license fee increase once approved would be effective immediately. License go on sale March first so buy them right away before the increase. An article in the week end paper said that there is alot of opposition to the increases and that they may not increase. I think that I will purchase mine early this season just to avoid any possible increases.

[Gramps]

Even if you buy it March 1st and then they go up, you will still have to get a new license or they will have some type of add on that you will need, so it won't matter when you buy it

[William H Bonney]

Last week during the LSCWA meeting they announced the hunting and fishing license fee increase once approved would be effective immediately. License go on sale March first so buy them right away before the increase. An article in the week end paper said that there is alot of opposition to the increases and that they may not increase. I think that I will purchase mine early this season just to avoid any possible increases.

I don't think it has been "approved" though,, has it????

Also there's no way you'll have to "make up the difference" if you buy early. Either the licensing agents won't sell them March 1st or the increase will already be in place or "not" be in place.

[woodie slayer]

the 2007 licence does not go on sale till march 1st. if you bought a licence thinking you got the 2007 you are mistaken.read experation date .

[Ninja]

Even if you buy it March 1st and then they go up, you will still have to get a new license or they will have some type of add on that you will need, so it won't matter when you buy it

Incorrect.....if you buy it on the 1st, and it goes up later, you WILL NOT have to pay anymore.

[alex-v]

Ted,

Keep in mind that the person who got up was just pushing another rumor about the license increase and in no way represented the policy or position of the club. He just used the open microphone time to promote the rumor.

There is no license increase until the legislature approves it and the license increase appears to be a dead issue at the current time. Think about this. If the DNR wanted to raise the license fees then they shoud just go and do it. But, they cannot just do it because it is the job of the state legislature to raise the fees. The state legislature has not done anything on this matter since they started the current session in January

Yes, the 2007 licenses will be going on sale on March 1st and as "Ninja" said they will not come and get your 2007 license back if the price increase goes through sometime in the summer.

Rest assured that when the legislature starts to actively work on the license fee increase that we will put an article in the club newsletter and that whatever is discussed in that article will be able to be substantiated with references. It will not be a miss-interpretation of a letter sent by the DNR to some license buyers.

[bucko12pt]

Becky Humphries addressed this last Thurs. before the taping of Big Buck night for Michigan outdoors at OutdoorRama. Apparently guys are out buying licences thinking they are going to beat the price increase, but what they are buying are 2006 licenses. As was said the 2007 licenses will be out on March 1st.

I think she said the new licenses will be on yellow paper stock as opposed to the pink this year. Some people apparently have purchased two 2006 licenses, which is illegal. She said you might be able to apply for a refund.

No one has stepped forward to sponsor the license increase bill so far. Could be political suicide.

[alex-v]

I have the feeling that it will happen by mid-summer. The DNR and the legislators will get together and come up with a proposal that will not be as dramatic as the one that was published last fall. Then, they will find one legislator willing to propose the bill and several to sign on as co-sponsors.

Then, it will be introduced in the House or Legislature in Lansing and the process will start. I expect to see a smaller license increase but more of them in that there will be an increase every other year. There will probably be a provision to have an increase based on cost of living and/or inflation.

Since they now know what the objections were the new legislation will have those bases covered and there will not be the uproar that occurred this winter.

My prediction is that we will have the increases and that they will go into effect starting with the seasons in 2008. Further prediction is that by the time they are done the total increases (license fees in 2012) will be more than they asked for last fall.

If they had gotten their increase that they asked for they certainly would have found it hard to include cost of living/inflation but since the fishing and hunting population jumped up and down about the increase, well there it is.