Let's
all help support the NH Fish & Game Department
By BOB HARRIS
Outdoors and Free
Friday, Dec. 1, 2006
Whether you are a hunter, angler, canoeist, kayaker, hiker or wildlife watcher, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department needs your help. This department is our state’s guardian of fish, marine resources, wildlife and their habitats. They work in partnership with the public to conserve, manage and protect these resources and their habitats. They inform and educate the public about these resources and provide us with opportunities to use, enjoy and appreciate these resources. They are also responsible for search and rescue operations.
Unfortunately, the department is in a serious budget crisis. According to our Fish and Game Department’s Executive Director, Lee Perry, "The future of our state’s wildlife and wild places are at risk." Mr. Perry said that the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department will soon be out of money, unless its antiquated funding structure is drastically changed. "This financial crisis comes at a critical time when New Hampshire is loosing 18,000 acres of land to development each year. This places wildlife, their habitat and outdoor recreational opportunities in dire jeopardy." Mr. Perry stated. "We are a complex organization with an ever-expanding set of duties and mandates that benefit all New Hampshire citizens and visitors. Our work protects open space, scenic beauty and wildlife resources that create jobs and fuel our economy as people enjoy these resources."
Our Fish and Game Department faces a severe financial shortfall because the incoming revenue is not keeping pace with the continued rising costs of doing business. Although the department works for everyone, it is the hunters and anglers in New Hampshire, about a quarter of the state’s population, that have always paid for the agency and the benefits it provides. This is done through license fees and federal excise taxes on their equipment. The people of New Hampshire, contribute $50,000 to Fish and Game annually from the General Fund as matching funds for non-game wildlife and habitat conservation, just 3.8 per cent per resident. The biggest majority of New Hampshire’s state agencies are supported almost entirely by the state’s General Fund.
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Across the U.S., fish and game agencies are struggling to survive under the traditional method of funding. Already, 31 states have changed how they fund their state wildlife agencies in order to meet their needs without having to rely solely on hunting and fishing fees. Some get money from income or sales taxes. Others, including Vermont and Maine, derive funds from annual General Fund appropriations.
What can the N.H. Fish and Game Department do to get on a firm financial footing? Director Lee Perry, said, "As a stopgap measure, we’ve asked Governor Lynch to put $1.6 million per year of General Fund revenue into the Fish and Game budget in fiscal year 2008 and 2009. Without these funds as a temporary fix, we will have to lay off as many as 28 full-time workers and eliminate 36 part-time positions, as well as close hatcheries and regional offices. This will dramatically reduce our ability to serve New Hampshire."
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Mr. Perry further stated, "In the past, we’ve coped with budget crunches by raising license fees, but that won’t work this time. They’re already the highest fees in New England. Also, data tells us that we’d lose money after another fee increase because participation would go down. The Fish and Game budget is bare-bones, totaling $27 million annually. We have already eliminated staff and dug deep for possible efficiencies." There is a need for a long-term plan. One proposed legislative plan is to take some of the $579 million that hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers put into the state’s economy each year by allocating a small part of the state’s rooms and meals tax into the Fish and Game budget. According to Mr. Perry, here’s how it would work:
"Currently, hotel and restaurant patrons pay an 8% tax. Some of that money goes to the department of Revenue to administer the program. What is left is divided between municipalities (40%) and the general Fund (60%). Fish and Game seeks to capture a small portion, just 4% of the 60% that goes into the General Fund, or about $4.6 million. Since hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers pay about 7.4% of the total rooms and meals tax collected in New Hampshire (more than $13 million annually), we believe that it makes sense to reinvest some of the money into the resources that generate it," he stated.
In the coming months, the State Legislature will consider several measures to provide the funding needed to save New Hampshire’s wildlife legacy. Their actions will determine not only the future of the Fish and Game Department, but of the wildlife, woods and waters that add so much to the quality of our lives. Among the measures considered, is a requirement that owners of non-motorized canoes and kayaks purchase and display, on their crafts annually, a Conservation Decal. Basically, the purchases will allow these water users to help fund programs, including boating education programs, boating access construction and improvement projects, search and rescue operations, etc. Those who register motorized boats and canoes, snowmobiles and ATVs already are doing their part.
The other consideration is that of initiating a state saltwater fishing license. Mr. Perry said, "This would greatly help our Marine Fisheries Division in working with other New England states, up and down the coast, to restore the saltwater fishery resource management and enforcement. The Marine Division is funded by fee revenues and grants to the marine program. There is not enough revenue from clam licenses and smelting permits, for ice-fishing on Great Bay, so the program is actually subsidized by the license fees of hunters and freshwater anglers."
According to Mr. Perry, the sale of saltwater fishing licenses would give the Marine Division needed information on the number of people engaged in the resource. Also, periodic angler surveys, sent to license holders, would help give needed information on the numbers and species of fish harvested in the course of a season. "All of this information determines conservation laws, creel limits, etc. We currently do not have that information now for Marine Fisheries. A saltwater fishing license will benefit us in two ways: it establishes an information data base for better science to go into Marine Fisheries and having a license fee for this fishery will provide revenues to go into those resources," he said.
If the new fees for non-motored craft and saltwater fishing are helpful to Fish and Game and will assure our continued enjoyment of the out-of-doors, wildlife and fisheries, in our future, it seems like a positive step in the right direction and worthy of our support.
Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at:
outwriter2@aol.com |
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