OCR Text |
Show Fishing, hunting license fee increase to be presented A bill to increase hunting and fishing license fees will be considered during the 1980 Utah State Legislature budget session. Clair Huff, operations director for the Division of Wildlife Resources says, "The proposed increase in fees is necessary if the Division is to continue to provide present services." The bill would increase the Utah combination license from $18 to $31, the adult fishing license from $8 to $15 and the adult small game license from $6 to $12. Ml other licenses would also be increased. One dollar from each resident hunting license would fund the hunter education program throughout the state. Another proposal in the bill would add 50 cents as the license agent's handling fee. Utah hunting and fishing licenses have increased only four times in the last 43 years. The last increase was in 1976. Since that time, inflation has made it necessary to ask for additional funds. According to Clair Huff, "The Division is now operating on a substandard sub-standard level. Without a license fee increase this year, services will be cut back even further." Huff stated, "Currently, we have cut fish hatchery production 15 percent, closed one hatchery, restricted personnel per-sonnel to 85 percent of last year's mileage, left 10 positions vacant and halted many important projects because of a lack of funds. The funds we receive are spent primarily on inflated costs of goods and services essential to managing Utah's wildlife effectively." ef-fectively." f . |