LAST EDITED ON Sep-13-12 AT 10:51PM (MST)[p]Utah400elk,
Yes, WY SFW is more than likely to continue to oppose this significant of a license fee increase. In fact, I believe we will not support any license fee increase, unless nothing else can be done. I have conveyed this position to both Director Talbot & Commission President Clark.
In defense of our WY G&F Commission & Department, I believe they are being very responsible with our hunting/fishing/trapping dollars; however, they have identified their problems and license fees simply do not address those problems; increased fuel costs, increased health care costs and inflation has already been identified as their primary problem. I would prefer that we address the problem rather than simply throw more money at it. And for the record, WY SFW did support the last license fee increase in 2007. Furthermore, we supported establishing general fund dollars to pay for capitol construction costs and improvements to our fish hatcheries.
There is a meeting on the 22nd that I will be attending. Hopefully, I will have at least one Board Member also in attendance. I cannot foresee what will come out of the meeting but I already know the reluctance to create any kind of program similar to Utah. Remember, Wyoming has something that Utah doesn't; we have the Wyoming Wildlife & Natural Resource Trust. WY SFW helped create this trust in 2004 and has continued to support its funding. While it has not obtained the funding level we would have liked, it has been added to every year. This is not to criticize the Utah program, it is simply to demonstrate that Wyoming has a different funding mechanism available for habitat projects and conservation, etc. I anticipate that Wyoming will see some kind of Super Tag raffle similar to other states and I believe WY SFW will support that type of a program.
