This is part of a series exploring aspects of Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal.
Wisconsin lawmakers question the Department of Natural Resources spending as a result of Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed raise in fees for sportsmen. State Senate Pro Tempore Dave Zien, R-Wheaton, and Caucus Chairman Sen. Ron Brown, R Eau-Claire, are demanding explanations concerning the distribution of funds from the Fish and Wildlife Account.
“Sportsmen that I represent are continually expressing concern that their dollars are being used in a [manner] other than they should be,” Brown said.
Doyle suggested an increase in resident hunting licenses to provide for important fish, game and habitat development, according to the budget message on fish and wildlife.
No increase for the deer license has been implemented in eight years and this fee will still be in line with other states, including Minnesota, whose fee is $79, and Illinois’ fee, which is $28, Melanie Fonder, spokesperson for Gov. Doyle, said.
A proposed $1.8 million would be used to fund conservation law enforcement to provide warden recruit class support and provide for improved communication tools.
“[The increase] will ensure that Wisconsin’s hunters and anglers continue to have places to hunt and fish and protect Wisconsin’s heritage and constitutional right to hunt and fish,” Doyle said in his budget proposal speech.
Among others, Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, is concerned that raising fees for fishing licenses from $17 to $20 and archery fees from $20 to $32 will make sporting activities yet another exclusion of the working class by the rich.
Zien and Brown are trying to ensure that this is available to all people and families, said Todd Allbaugh, communications director for Schultz.
“We have wonderful natural resources here in Wisconsin, and [Schultz] supports the preservation of this pastime,” Allbaugh said. “I don’t think that is unreasonable to ask for an account of the [DNR’s] fees.”
Information concerning the expenses has been requested from the DNR, which the senators expect the administration will soon provide. The analysis of this information must be complete before any fees could be implemented.
“The bottom line is that the government has the ability to take money under one premise and use it for something else, and these are false pretenses,” Brown said.
This information includes the number and roles of wardens of all classifications, an analysis of all infringements of law and rules and efforts by the DNR to account for all expenditures and their functions.
“Most would agree that these small increases will mean that the fish are stocked and there are more wardens,” Fonder said. “It is a small trade off to be able to continue to have the hunting and fishing they want in Wisconsin.”
Assembly Speaker Rep. John Gard, R-Peshtigo, objected to the DNR water regulations, disapproving of the inability to clearly establish which waters are covered under the Areas of Special Natural Resource Interest. Under the Job Creations Act passed last year and signed into law by Doyle, 7 percent of Wisconsin waters should be protected.
Gard contests a process must be defined to determine which waters belong to the ASNRI in order for citizens to know decisions affecting them are being made by their elected representatives.
