License Increase Bills Get Last-Minute OK
By DAVID RAINER
Lost in the hullabaloo of the final day of the Alabama Legislature’s 2007 regular session was the passage of a trio of bills vitally important to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
With the midnight deadline at hand, the Alabama Senate passed legislation to: increase hunting and freshwater fishing license fees, along with the establishment of a Wildlife Heritage License; increase saltwater fishing license fees; increase boat registration fees. The legislation also carries a provision that ties the licenses to the Consumer Price Index, starting in 2010.
Barnett Lawley, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), said – despite no opposition – it took a significant effort to get the legislation pushed through before the session ended.
“It was a team effort,” Lawley said.
The list of supporters for the license increase is long and includes: Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF), Alabama Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Bowhunters of Alabama, Alabama Dog Hunters Association, Alabama Quail Hunters, Inc., The Mobile Bay Audubon Society, Decatur-Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ducks Unlimited, Alabama Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, Alabama B.A.S.S. Federation Nation, Alabama BASS Federation, Inc., and the Alabama Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
“We had all this support from outside the department, led by the AWF, Aububon Society and The Nature Conservancy,” Lawley said. “Then our people, the conservation enforcement officers, Marine Police, everybody educating our legislators about the need for this increase. The support we got in the House and Senate was a remarkable thing. Rep. Thomas Jackson, Thomasville, sponsored all of our legislation. Sen. Kim Benefield and Sen. Jabo Waggoner and Sen. Lowell Barron and Sen. Jimmy Holley and an untold number of senators gave us their support. The governor’s office looked at this and gave us support.”
Lawley said most people don’t understand that the ADCNR doesn’t receive any money from the state’s General Fund. All operating expenses are derived from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and the matching funds from the Sport Fish Restoration Act and the Wildlife Restoration Act.
“People who use Alabama’s abundant resources realize to protect and enjoy what we have it has to be managed,” he said. “Sixty-six percent of what we do is personnel. We made people, user groups and legislators, aware three years ago that we had to get this done, because we haven’t had a license increase since 1989. Many state agencies get money from the general fund, but we don’t get any general fund money. This is where our budget comes from. With the Consumer Price Index provision, with good management, we can maintain level funding so we can plan and have some initiatives – the way it ought to be run.”
Tim Gothard, AWF executive director, said it’s rare to see user groups come together so solidly to support legislation, but those groups realized how important it is for the ADCNR to have adequate funding to manage the natural resources in Alabama.
“I think it’s a truly monumental accomplishment,” Gothard said. “The reason I say that, for the first time, the department now has a mechanism that will provide the ability to increase license fees when needed and necessary without having to go through the full introduction of new legislation in the process. In my opinion, what that’s going to provide is a way to get away from the boom and bust cycles of the past to a more stable, long-term outlook to funding.
“When you have that, you can do a far better job for planning for the long term to be able to respond to needs and opportunities. I really think that’s a big deal. It took a significant commitment to convey the message throughout the legislative session, so when the opportunity presented itself at the last hour, we were able to show broad, statewide support for the increase.”
M.N. “Corky” Pugh, Director of the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division, said a license increase was the only way for his division to maintain its role in the conservation of the state’s wildlife resources, as well as services to the public.
“We’ve been doing our best to operate Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries on 1989 dollars for a lot of years,” Pugh said. “We asked for a modest increase, along with a Consumer Price Index provision that allows us to incrementally increase the cost of the licenses in order to keep up with inflation.
“Our objective was to keep the cost of the licenses as low as we could to generate the necessary revenue. We had no interest in increasing it to a higher rate. We felt that would result in the number of license buyers diminishing, and we don’t want to do anything that would decrease the number of licenses sold. Our federal matching dollars are based on the number of license buyers.”
Under the new legislation, the resident all-game hunting license will increase from $16 to $24, while the resident freshwater fishing license will increase from $9.50 to $12. Non-resident licenses will also increase in line with other southeastern states.
“People need to understand that for the same privileges afforded in our basic all-game hunting license that the average cost in the states surrounding Alabama is $55.20,” Pugh said. “Even with the increase, it’s still less than half what other states charge. On the fishing side, the average is $13.80 and our new license is below that.
“This necessary increase will allow us to provide the effective law enforcement and biological services that the landowners, hunters and anglers in the state have come to expect. For those people who enjoy hunting on WMAs (wildlife management areas) or fishing in public lakes, or hunting and fishing in the state at large, we’ll be able to provide the biological services to manage those game and fish populations and habitats. We’re up to 24 enforcement officer vacancies. That means that 24 of 67 counties are down to one officer.”
Pugh said the effect of the shortage in enforcement officers was very apparent last deer season.
“At the beginning of gun deer season this past fall, we were carrying 19 officer vacancies,” he said. “And the night hunting complaints from property owners were up 27 percent over the previous year. With 24 vacancies, we’re going to be really in trouble.”
Unfortunately, there’s not a quick fix, even with the license increase.
“It’ll be the middle of the upcoming hunting season before we’re able to begin to fill those positions,” Pugh said. “We have to begin generating revenue from the license increases before we can start hiring.”
Pugh said only the grass roots support of landowners, hunters and anglers across the state made passage of the legislation possible.
“I was sitting in the Senate gallery,” he said. “When the bill passed at about 11:30 that night, the senator who broke the stalling tactics used our funding initiative and that could not have occurred without those senators having heard from their constituents back home. Alabama’s landowners, hunters and anglers, as well as the conservation-related organizations, really went to bat for the increase. We deeply appreciate their support and the responsiveness shown by their elected representatives in the Legislature.”
House Bill 254 also contained two more important elements – creating a Wildlife Heritage License and a mentor license. The Wildlife Heritage License is included in the basic hunting license and basic fishing license for Alabama residents.
The Heritage License gives the license holder limited privileges to hunt and fish – freshwater fish statewide with hook and line from the bank and to fish in Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries operated public fishing lakes (permits still required), hunt small game (except waterfowl) on wildlife management areas (permits still required) and use Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries operated shooting ranges. A resident who buys a hunting or fishing license would be entitled to limited privileges in addition to whichever basic privilege they purchased.
“With the Wildlife Heritage License, we now have an avenue for the people who love the outdoors but don’t hunt or fish to contribute,” Lawley said. “It’s not mandatory, but it shows good stewardship by purchasing one of these licenses. And they don’t have to take hunter education. Every bird trail we have now, the money used to maintain these comes from the hunter.”
The Wildlife Heritage License can also be purchased separately for $10.
“That’s a way for people who may not hunt or fish to support conservation and management of fish and wildlife, which encompasses all wild animals, everything from eagles to blue birds, from sturgeons to snails,” Pugh said. “It’s an opportunity for people who just enjoy watching wildlife to pay their way.”
The mentor license allows hunters the opportunity to mentor and encourage new participants by exempting mandatory hunter education and substituting mentor education. Under the new statute a person who is of license-buying age who has not completed hunter education can hunt under the supervision of another person with a valid hunting license who has completed their hunter education and who is 21 or older. Supervision is defined as normal voice control, not to exceed 30 feet from the supervising person. For anyone who buys a hunting license and can provide no proof of hunter education, the license will be designated as a mentor license.
House Bill 255, which also passed just before the hour of the pumpkin, deals with Marine Resources Division issues, including an increase from $16 to $21 for a resident annual saltwater fishing license. The increase also has a Consumer Price Index provision, starting in 2010.
The bill also repeals the availability of saltwater pier licenses in Alabama. Also included in the legislation is a requirement for a saltwater license if you possess fish that are taken by rod and reel, use of artificial bait, fly or lure, as well as a gig, cast net, bow, crab trap or spear. This requirement relates to fish taken in both federal and state waters.
The bill also covered court jurisdiction for violations of the saltwater fishing regulations, according to Major John T. Jenkins, Chief of Enforcement with Marine Resources.
“It provides jurisdiction for cases made in federal waters to be prosecuted in district courts in Mobile and Baldwin counties,” Jenkins said. “The bill says if violation occurs that is in violation of both federal and state regulations, the case can be prosecuted in the district courts of those two counties.
“It gives us better protection of our resources, because our officers are already out there and would be better able to enforce the regulations. The state systems are also more user-friendly than federal systems. We feel that would be an asset for the public also.”
Finally, only minutes before the clock struck midnight, House Bill 256 passed, which increases the boat registration fees across the board.
For boats less than 16 feet the increase is from $12 to $20. For boats from 16 feet to less than 26 feet the increase is from $16 to $25. For boats 26 feet to less than 40 feet the fee goes from $31 to $75, while boats 40 feet or longer will be charged $100 instead of $51. A temporary license issued to dealers or manufacturers will cost $25 each. Also, an inspection fee of $25 will be charged for all homemade boats that require a hull identification number, which is required to register the boat.
“This puts us on a more stable financial footing in that we can budget for the coming years,” Capt. Bob Huffaker said. “Some of the main goals are to purchase new equipment and fill the 15 enforcement officer vacancies we have statewide in order to provide better service to the boating public.”
###
|
