Governor Schwarzenegger (has anyone really gotten used to saying that?) wants to tap into a fishing & hunting-license supported wildlife fund – which has outdoorsmen seeing red:
Fishermen and hunters are outraged about a plan tucked in the governor’s proposed California budget to shift $30 million out of wildlife programs.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to borrow money from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, which comes from hunting and fishing license fees, and use it to prop up other state programs. The funds would be repaid to wildlife programs by 2013 – with interest.
Ok, so the state’s supposed to pay the money back, though not everyone’s happy there’s any money in the program to begin with, charging there are plenty of projects with an urgent need for funding:
Some fishermen claim the fund often runs a surplus when wildlife programs are in desperate need of money.Brett Matzke, wild and native trout manager at the advocacy group California Trout, said fishing groups recently urged the department to spend $1 million from the fund to restore habitat for the Paiute cutthroat trout. He said the request was denied.
Some anglers, he said, are considering a “license burning” rally outside the Capitol.
Adding to their anguish is a hike in license fees this year, part of a routine inflation adjustment. A 2009 hunting license costs $37.30. A fishing license costs $41.20 – the most expensive in the nation, Matzke said.
A license burning? (Maybe in effigy; I’m not about to sacrifice my 2009 fishing season for a symbolic gesture).
And like most anglers, I don’t mind forking over for the “most expensive” fly fishing license in the nation – provided we see some results.
We have one of the lowest number of game wardens (per square foot) than anyone in the nation, and as a recent CalTrout report pointed out, most of our native species are under pressure.
See you in the capital, Tom Chandler.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
On the bright side the gov may take it out of the Hatchery program !?
May not be all bad. If they’d concentrate more on wild fish programs.
‘Course that’d play hell with steelhead and salmon on the Trinity and others.
from a former CA resident,
Larry S
New Hoosier Larry Swearingen(Quote)
Larry: Never lose that sense of humor. Tom Chandler(Quote)