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Her is some simple math if they did make us pay 20 dollars for 2 poles in order for everyone in my family to use the same 2 poles we are allowed to use now it would cost me an additional 100 dollars on top of the license fees and conservation stamps we buy now making it over 200 dollars to take my family fishing. Now I can buy a family fishing license in Sd for 62 dollars a year and fish with 2 poles per person now where do you think I will be spending my money??? Its pretty simple math now isnt it ??
No 2 pole extra fee. We are not Washington, Oregon, or Califorina. Look at the what them states stand for. More spending, more goverment. Cuts should be made before more money is taken from our pockets.
ClearCreek, you are absolute right. I will be contacting my representative in the morning.
Cities, states and the federal govt have all overspent for years, always demanding more off the backs of citizens in taxes, fees, special assessments, etc. So we increase the fees this year way beyond what is currently recognized as the cost of living, but hey next time it will be cost of living. The money is drying up and we are living on borrowed time. We need to fix our roads, hey lets increase the gasoline tax, but lets build a 16 million dollar visitor center when we have a perfectly good one three miles up the road. Lets build roundabouts when we have perfectly good intersections already. How many times have you seen a snowplow running down the road when we have little to no snow actually on the road. Game and Fish oversells tags for big game specifically to raise revenues knowing the quality of hunts will be impacted in a negative way. Government is fat and needs to cut. Of course they will always tell you otherwise and convince you the world will end as you know it if they do not get the money honey!I hate to admit it but I was a government employee for 23 years and I saw the waste first hand, but if you say anything about it you better get ready for the crap that rolls down hill on your head. I am old and probably won't fish or hunt too many more years but I sure feel for those of you that will have to deal with this in the future. Sorry for the rant, guess I figured when your end time is near you earned the right to crab a bit.
If money is so tight, they should not spend it so freely.What he said.
Even though I don't live in your state, I understand what you guys are feeling about these increases. I think that before any government can ask for more money they should provide all tax payers an in depth look at where every dime of our tax money goes. Each department (ie wildlife, education, roads, etc) should have this information available online. Most people seem to forget that the government works for us, we pay their bills and we need to know where this money is being spent. Then we can see first hand if there is any wasteful spending. If we knew where the money went and what operation costs were then we would understand why there needs to be tax increases. In what areas is the current budget lacking that such a steep increase in license fee's is needed? Did their gas cost increase by 4 million?
I'd love to see the game and fish budget and see where they spend their allowance. I think that would clear up a lot of confusion and give us an insight into what they are really facing. I might be naive to think this but I don't believe they are in this trouble because they waste their money. Maybe I'm just crazy, but where is all of this waste coming from? What can they cut? Maybe I'm wrong but I just don't think that they are wasting tons and tons of taxpayer money. If they are, show me where. I believe the vast majority of the money they receive gets spent on things that are not wasteful. It is my understanding that: They can only increase fees every so often (4-5 years). This means that they have to budget and plan for enough revenue to cover them for the foreseeable future - until the current budget ends and a new one is needed. Apparently, it is time for them to plan the next budget for 4-5 years ahead of now... and they are realizing they have to increase revenue somehow. Why? I don't know. My guess is that things are just more expensive today than they were 5 years ago. I do not think it is because they have just gone on a rampant wasteful spending spree. I don't think we'd be in this trouble if Wyoming had a larger population. States like Utah, Montana and Colorado have the roughly the same # of lakes we have and hunting opportunities... the difference is that those states also have more hunters and fisherman because their populations are bigger. More people buying license and tags = more revenue and less budget concerns.
