— Any way you slice it, buying a fishing or hunting license remains an awfully good deal.

A few bucks slid across the counter opens up all kinds of outdoor recreation opportunities.

In 1970, an individual resident fishing license cost the not-so-princely sum of $7.

By 2001, the price had increased to $17 and more than a decade later, still costs $17.

A pretty good deal, considering how everything else has gone up over the last decade.

Trucks, boats, tackle, gas, bullets, bait, beer ... when it comes to springing for the essentials of the outdoor experience, a dollar just doesn’t go quite as far as it did way back in 2001.

Yet, the price of Minnesota hunting and fishing licenses has remained the same.

That’s a problem because the lion’s share of money for Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Game and Fish Fund, which the agency uses to pay for its core functions — game and fish management and law enforcement, comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.

During the last budget biennium, less than 3 percent of the operating budget came from Legislative appropriations from the general fund.

Early last year, the prediction was that fund would be in the red by 2015.

More recently, thanks to the 20-day government shutdown last summer when fishing or hunting licenses couldn’t be sold, smaller-than-expected hunting and fishing license revenues and predicted declines in available Federal money, the DNR is saying the fund will be operating at a deficit as soon as June, 2013.

And since state statute forbids the DNR from operating at a deficit, dramatic cuts in their core functions will affect the quality and quantity of outdoor recreation opportunities can be expected unless something is done.

Even with the Game and Fish fund still in the black, the DNR hardly is awash in cash. In recent years, reductions in legislative funding have whittled away at their budget, leaving positions unfilled and cuts in other activities including fish stocking programs.

This isn’t a new issue. The dwindling Game and Fish Fund was a key point of discussion a year ago at the 2011 DNR Roundtables.

The hope then was that the 2011 Legislature would act on a proposal to increase license fees.

But with bigger budgetary fish to fry — a looming $6 billion deficit in particular — the issue wasn’t addressed.

It also could be argued that some legislators painted themselves into an ideological corner by signing on to Pawlenty’s pledge of no new taxes.

But the latter is a curious thing, really. While legislators and the previous governor claimed to hold the line on taxes, the cost of myriad “user fees” inflicted on Minnesotans hardly remained stagnant.

And ultimately, that’s what our hunting and fishing licenses are  — user fees.

It would be understandable if some legislators were reluctant to consider an increase if users were complaining about a potential increase in their fees.

But in the case of bumping up the cost of a hunting or fishing license, most of us are not. The consensus of sportsmen’s groups and conservation organizations, the hunting and fishing fraternity in general, is that the modest increases are reasonable and necessary.

The proposed increases are less than Draconian. A resident individual fishing license would increase from the current $17 to $24, a resident husband/wife license from $24 to $40, a resident deer license from $26 to $30, as examples.

Legislators once again will have plenty of weighty issues to consider in the 2012 session that opens Jan. 24.

High among them undoubtedly will be how to finance a new playground for the Minnesota Vikings.

But close behind ought to be increasing license fees that maintain our state’s most popular playground — the great outdoors.



John Cross is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at 344-6376 or by e-mail at jcross@mankatofreepress.com.