The Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of
Wildlife is poised to request increases to the license and tag fees charged to
non-resident hunters.
Non-resident hunters last faced a hunting license increase 10 years
ago, says the Wildlife Division.
However, not on the to-do list is a similar request to up
the same fees on resident hunters, particularly deer hunters, says the Wildlife
Division’s chief, Scott Zody.
Though the idea for requesting such fee increases almost
certainly has the blessing of the John Kasich Administration the matter also
will need the approval of the Republican-led Ohio House and Ohio State Senate.
By way of numbers, the current to-date sales of non-resident
general hunting licenses stands at 37,894 documents (a 0.09 percent decrease
from the to-date sales of 2012-2013 non-resident general hunting licenses).
Similarly, the to-date sales of either-sex deer tags to
non-residents is 44,545 documents, or a 0.85 percent drop.
By comparison, the to-date sales of general hunting licenses
to Ohio residents is 278,880 for a 1.08 percent decline from the to-date
2012-2013 figures.
Also, to-date ales of either-sex deer tags to Ohio residents
total 284,611 permits, a drop of 4.74 percent from the 2012-2013 to-date sales.
"Ohio has become a destination
for non-resident hunters to pursue whitetails. When you look at our
non-resident fee structure, we are very underpriced, especially when you look
at other popular whitetail states like Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa,” says Zody.
“Most
of our non-resident deer hunters come from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and
Michigan, but we are seeing greater numbers coming from the Carolinas,
Tennessee, New York, and other Eastern states.”
In fact, Zody says, Ohio ranks
about 35th out of the 50 states when it comes to non-resident fee
prices.
“Our goal is to bring our
non-residents fees more in line with other states, but still be on the lower
end of the scale so we continue to be competitively priced,” Zody says.
To illustrate, Zody
says the non-resident who ventures into Ohio to hunt deer pays $149; or $125
for a general hunting license and $24 for an either sex tag.
“What we have been discussing would be a
modest increase to the base license (of maybe) $20 to 30, and creating a
non-resident either-sex deer tag and charging non-residents a higher amount for
that tag, for arguments sake, let’s say $100,” Zody says.
Thus,
instead of paying $149 a non-resident deer hunter could wind up paying as much
as $255, or more than a 90-percent increase.
Zody
does admit that any fee increase would prove a delicate balancing act. The
simple reason being the Wildlife Division cannot afford to think only of its
own bottom line, Zody says.
“We
also want to be sensitive to non-resident waterfowl, turkey or small game
hunters and not ‘chase them away’,” Zody says.
Then
too the Wildlife Division both wants and needs to be “sensitive to the
multitude of small business owners out there that cater to non-resident hunters
and count on their business each year.”
All
this being said, the fact remains increased license fees are mandated in order
for the Wildlife Division to continue to move forward with its wildlife
management and law-enforcement activities, Zody says.
We
are facing unprecedented increases in our Federal Pittman-Robertson allocations
due to the huge increases in the sale of guns and ammunition the past 4-5
years,” Zody says.
With
the increases to P-R, it is becoming a struggle to match down those funds, not
just for Ohio, but in several other states as well,” Zody says.
“We have also
been trying to reduce costs where we can – combining field work units, reducing
staff or combining positions when vacancies occur, but it becomes a
double-edged sword with the P-R dollars - if we don’t match down the funds in
any given year, the dollars revert back to Washington and are spent elsewhere.”
Still, any such additional revenue will come
from the wallets of non-residents as tapping the purses and the bank accounts
of resident hunters are off limits, says Zody also.
“Increasing
the fee on non-residents now will help us defer asking our resident hunters,
anglers and trappers to pay more,” Zody says.
However,
at the same time the Wildlife Division will fight tooth and nail any
legislative effort designed to amend a proposal by allowing the issuance of
free licenses and tags to active-duty military personnel on leave.
“We
are funded almost entirely by license and permit sales and Federal Aid.
When you dilute the pool of paying customers and have the remainder subsidize
those who receive a free benefit, it puts greater strain on the system,” Zody
says.
“Therefore, we are not in favor of expanding free licenses and permits,
and every statewide conservation organization as well as many individual
sportsmen and women have expressed their concerns over such proposals.”
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
