Today at the Montana Legislature, the Senate Finance and Claims Committee passed a bill to increase prices on hunting tags. House Bill 140 would increase fishing license prices by a few dollars, and would introduce a base license fee for any hunter of $8 for residents and $10 for nonresidents. Other special nonresident permit prices would also increase.Director of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Jeff Hagener, says FWP needs the license increase to just pay for what they already do.
“That’s a result of inflation, pay plans that the legislature approved of, all of those things that came in place, that we basically eat out of our license fees.”
Opponent Harry Wang of the Associated Students of the University of Montana pointed out that the bill would eliminate discounts for out-of-state students, increasing their rate by about $450.
“I’m afraid if this bill passes, our out-of-state enrollment might see a decline.”
The bill now heads to the full Senate.