Fees Rise July 1
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Got your fishing or hunting license yet?
If not, you may want to get it now. On July 1, both resident and nonresident Fish and Game license and tag fees will go up. Most fees are going up by about 10 percent, a few are more and some are even going down. If you are thinking about a Lifetime License, now is the time to buy as the increase also affects the cost of lifetime licenses.
Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed the fee increase legislation on April 15. It has been five years since the last fee increase legislation went into effect in 2000..
Resident adult hunting licenses will go from $11.50 to $12.75 and adult fishing licenses rise from $23.50 to $25.75. A combination license will go from $30.50 to $33.50. Tags show similar modest increases.
A junior resident combination license goes from $16 to $17.50. Legislators brought the resident senior license more in line with juniors, raising a senior license from $4.50 to $11.75.
Licenses and tags purchased before the July 1 increase goes into effect are valid through the rest of 2005.
Lawmakers worked out the fee increase legislation after turning down proposals from Fish and Game for a 13.7 percent increase. The 13.7 percent figure represented the amount required to cover inflation's effects on the department budget since 2000. The new fee law is expected to bring in about $1 million per year less than the original proposal.
The more than 400 primarily small businesses statewide that offer license services will see their compensation increase from 75cents to $1 cents per transaction.