Check out their reasons here:
[url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/06-01/fee_proposal.php"]http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/06-01/fee_proposal.php[/url]
I wrote a dozen or so Utah legistators that happen to be on some kind of budget committee I believe about increasing the amount of the general fund that funds the division instead of raising license fees, since the DWR manages all wildlife, not just game animals, and all Utahns and visitors benefit from the management of our wildlife, not just hunters and fishermen. More of us should write them. Check out this thread on the DWR website for more information:
[url "http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9044"]http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9044[/url]
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Great and good idea. I'm sick of how funding is managed in this state. I realized nothing is for free, but compare our "resident" fees in Utah to our neighboring states and it's a joke. $280 for a RESIDENT limited entry elk tag? Holy cow. Also, the raise in fees pisses me off the most. I got an email from the CIO with the DNR about how they can't do that because it's a "lottery" if they make any money on the app fee. Soooo, if it goes from $5 to $10 in one year, your telling me their expenses went up 100%? [unsure]
Now I realize we need funding, but I agree cat_man- others should help pay too. I don't ski, but I'm sure some of my tax dollars helped build a road, put up an ad or do something to support that form of tourism and plenty more!!
Contact your legislatures and remind them that everyone benefits from wildlife in our state and everyone should help. The general fund needs to help out. The fact the DWR gets it's budget from legislators is a whole problem in it's self! [crazy]
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Cat Man,
Here is that e-mail list from the DWR boards. I would hope that all of us here on the BFT Utah boards could take a few minutes and send off a letter to each one of these individuals on the Natural Resources Appropriations Committee.
The Following is taken from the DWR message boards:
Quote: Ed Kent (Utah Angler Coalition) emailed me a list of the people on the Natural Resources Appropriations subcommittee, these people decide on the DWR budget. Let's all find a minute and send each of them an email stating that the 8% of the DWR budget that comes from the general fund needs to be increased instead of raising hunting and fishing lic fees like proposed.
Quote: Sen. Thomas V. Hatch, Co Chair [url "mailto:thatch@utahsenate.org"]thatch@utahsenate.org[/url]
Rep. Bradley T. Johnson, Co Chair [url "mailto:bradjohnson@utah.gov"]bradjohnson@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. Carl W. Duckworth [url "mailto:cduckworth@utah.gov"]cduckworth@utah.gov[/url]
Sen. Beverly Ann Evans [url "mailto:bevevans@ubtanet.com"]bevevans@ubtanet.com[/url]
Rep. Ben C. Ferry [url "mailto:bcferry@utah.gov"]bcferry@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. Kerry W. Gibson [url "mailto:kwgibson@utah.gov"]kwgibson@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. James R. Gowans [url "mailto:jgowans@utah.gov"]jgowans@utah.gov[/url]
Sen. Parley G. Hellewell [url "mailto:parley@parleyhellewell.com"]parley@parleyhellewell.com[/url]
Rep. Rebecca D. Lockhart [url "mailto:blockhart@utah.gov"]blockhart@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. John G. Mathis [url "mailto:jmathis@utah.gov"]jmathis@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove [url "mailto:rmenlove@utah.gov"]rmenlove@utah.gov[/url]
Rep. Michael E. Noel [url "mailto:mikenoel@kanab.net"]mikenoel@kanab.net[/url]
Lets all do our part to support DWR and change the way they get funding.
Maybe one of the moderators needs to moved this post over to the General Discussion Board.
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this is crap
the people who hunt and fish should pay for it
increase the fees for tags and licnse fees if that is what it is going to take but the non-hunter or angler should not have to pay the way of the freeloader hunter or fisher
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]And who should pay for non game species management?[/size][/black][/font]
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what, endangered species protection? spotted frog?? or do you mean like red squirrels and quail in the back yard., what is non-game?
guess what, you DON"T have to pay for them. they live here, or they pass through on the way to canada.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Well let's see:[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font] [ul] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3] Funds programs and surveys of raptor and songbird populations in Utah. Ensure birds as common as yellow warblers and American robins, and as rare as peregrine falcons and yellow-billed cuckoos, will thrive for years to come,[/size][/black][/font][/li] [li][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Help endangered and sensitive species. Through their work, river otters now live in southern Utah, a black-footed ferret population is being established in the northeastern part of the state and important information is being gathered about pygmy rabbits and prairie dogs.[/size][/black][/font][/li][/ul]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The UDWR employees work on a lot of non-game related projects and somebody has to pay for them. Others, beside hunters ought to help out as well.[/size][/black][/font]
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AMEN to that!!!
Wetlips, no we don't have to pay so that quail or squirrels can survive in the suburbs. But we do pay for sensitive and endangered species management, as well as other studies involving all sorts of wildlife. BLM has outlined only a couple of the many projects the DWR undertakes that are NOT related to game animals. THAT is why part of the burden should be shared by all citizens.
Also, when the DWR does a project to enhance the habitat of a game animal (say, the provo river restoration project, for example), it improves the habitat for trout, which helps fishermen. But, hundreds of other species also benefit from the habitat improvements, and the entire riparian ecosystem improves. This benefits bird and other wildlife watchers, picnicers, hikers, people who walk or rollerblade the trails, etc. Tourism in Utah brings in a lot of money for the state and for local businesses, and money invested into our environment brings in more tourists to see the natural beauty of Utah. We should all share some of that burden. We are not asking for free fishing and hunting licenses and to let the taxpayers pay for everything. We are asking for a FAIR balance between the two.
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fine, since you guys know so damn much, tell me how much money the dwr gets from the feds for their projects? that money is not for growing you a better deer rack but for habitat and endangered/threatened stuff.
so you want the non-hunting taxpayer to pay twice for your rubber trout and big horns put where they don't belong: once with their federal income tax, and secondly wth their utah account.
you want it, you pay for it. you guys are just a bunch of commies crying for a welfare state.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Did your mother deprive you of breast feeding as a baby and now you hate the whole world because of it? Get a life. Better yet, go away for a very, very long time.[/size][/black][/font]
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