$11 increase seems reasonable

There is an impressive array of hunting and fishing opportunities available in Montana. From golden trout in the Beartooths to trophy walleye in Fort Peck Lake, from sharptail grouse on the prairie to mountain goats in the Crazies, Montana is hard to beat.

The state offers long seasons and liberal limits.

Credit the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for much of what we have, and expect to pay a few more bucks next year to maintain that bounty.

FWP is facing a $5.75 million budget shortfall. A citizens group appointed by the FWP director recommends raising fishing and hunting license fees to address the problem. According to FWP, an increase of $3 per fishing license and $8 per hunting license would allow the department to conduct business as usual.

There hasn’t been an increase in license fees since 2005.

HB 140, the 2015 Montana Resident License Fee Proposal, is currently moving through the House, apparently on the way to passage. Although the Legislature does little to fund FWP, it still must approve license fee increases.

License fees, not the reality show “Wardens,” provide the majority of the department’s funding.

In the 10 years since license fees last increased, FWP has caught a lot of heat, mostly from landowners, over the management of wolves and bison, critters that were foisted on the department by the feds.

The department was also criticized for buying land, again by landowners.

FWP receives much less criticism from the sportsmen and women who foot the bill, and who appreciate every new hunting and fishing opportunity.

We’ll gladly pony up the extra money. Eleven bucks is a heckuva deal simply to maintain what we have.

And we have a lot.

In Montana we start hunting antelope in August. Upland bird season begins Sept. 1 and runs through Jan. 1. The general big game season still runs for five weeks, and over-the-counter tags are plentiful.

Oh, yeah, there’s also spring bear and turkey.

Folks here fish until it freezes and then they fish through the ice. They cast caddis flies for cutthroat and yank treble hooks through the water for paddlefish.

People from other places dream of coming to here some day. Simply living in Montana gives its residents a degree of outdoor credibility they’d get nowhere else.

FWP certainly doesn’t get all the credit, but the department has done a damn fine job, in part, I like to think, because they know we’re watching.

Parker Heinlein is at

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