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For years, those of us who buy hunting and fishing licenses have been paying for Fish and Wildlife Department services that have nothing to do with regulating or improving hunting or fishing in Maine. A number of years ago, the state legislature tried to fix this inequity by appropriating a couple million dollars of General Fund tax money to help the Fish and Wildlife Department pay for these extra curricular services like searching for lost persons.

One problem. Whenever there is a budget squeeze, the money is taken back by the governor’s office, like this year for example. So the Fish and Wildlife operation, by order of the governor, must lose its General Fund money and also cut back on its normal expenditures as well. So now money for search-and-rescue operations will be underwritten by hunting and fishing license fees yet again. This means even less money for programs related to hunting and fishing.

What’s worse is that the Fish and Wildlife Department, according to the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), is planning to offset these loses by raising all of our license fees to hunt and fish.

In a January column in the Northwoods Sporting Journal, George Smith, SAM’s executive director, wrote:

Commissioner Martin reported that the Governor had authorized him to put together a license hike plan, although the Governor has not yet committed to supporting the hike. Martin says the proposal is likely to be an across-the-board hike in all licenses, permits, registrations, and lottery chances.

Although there is never a good time to increase fees for hunting and fishing licenses, this is the worst of all possible times. It is Marketing 101. In sluggish economic times, with deflation working in the U.S. economy, you attract customers by dropping prices not increasing them! Long before the economy tanked, the sales of hunting and fishing licenses in this state were plagued by other factors, not the least of which were reduced land access, increasingly complicated rules and regulations, and simply a changing culture.

The Fish and Wildlife Department might be wise to reconsider its plan to raise license fees. It is a risky venture that could drive away customers and possibly result in even less revenues for the department, especially over the long haul.

Beyond the mere supply and demand equation, there is also the long-debated fairness issue: why should the cost of search and rescue operations be borne exclusively by sportsmen? And this basic inequity becomes more pronounced and blatant when hunting and fishing license fees are increased in order to cover these extra curricular costs.

SAM writes:

SAM’s Board of Directors decided to oppose any proposed hike that requires sportsmen to pay more so the public may receive services for free. SAM’s position is that the public should pay for all of their services, or those services should be eliminated. If that happens, sportsmen will not have to pay more.

Clearly, Gov. John Baldacci is trying to balance his budget on the backs of sportsmen of this state. The question, of course, is: Are we going to let him get away with it?

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].