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06-10-2017, 08:23 AM #11
Reg. Marie you make a good point however, those license fees are the only source of revenue to research, manage, enforce, and promote Lake Erie's bounty. The fact that Lake Erie Charterboat Association has been the most vocal proponent for these license increases tells you they are concerned about the future of the lake. They also understand that when a non resident makes the choice to come to Lake Erie to enjoy the greatest walleye fishery in the world a non resident license is the cheapest thing they will pay for even if the cost is doubled. Yeah there will be a few who balk but think about why people go to Lake Ontario for salmon, Montana for trout, or Chesapeake Bay for stripers. It's not because the licenses are cheap...they go because it's a destination that offers the best of what they seek. Yes these people contribute millions to the local economy but none of those go directly..... or indirectly to the ODOW because they receive no general fund revenue.
As far as fines go, that is a judge problem. Yes maximum fines are legislated but the judges are the ones who set the dollar amount and frankly some are way too soft. Some sentences handed down in Ottawa County, the mecca of Lake Erie's walleye fishery, can and have been referred to as "cost of doing business" for poachers. Here's the latest example.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/...eye/380454001/
These criminals will continue to take their chances if enforcement numbers aren't shored back up...and even increased. License hikes will help the ODOW to schedule a cadet class and fill the current vacancies.
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06-10-2017, 07:32 PM #12
As an avid sportsman I would pay a more for licenses, but perhaps not to travel out of state due to increases. I used to hunt Michigan most of my younger life, but it just got out of hand with the time VS money required situation. It all comes down to recruitment of new people interested in what we love to do. I believe that hunting and trapping are the greatest losses in the recruitment department, not fishing nearly as much.
Yes in order to operate things as has been the normal situation, it will require more money. But, using the economics of raising prices to offset losses from recruitment, is sort of like trying to spend ones self into prosperity. Is does not work. If the fees are raised, recruitment will be further reduced, not only from Ohio residents, but also from non-residents,, and then after that condition even more increases will have to follow. Will the new fees and the budget that arises from them be the new anticipated financial needs for the division? Would they get accustomed to these fund amounts if there was more cash influx? I would bet so. To me raising fees to offset a bigger problem is like placing a bandage on an infected wound, it is going to get really bad and smelly at some point.
We need to fix the recruitment problem not make it worse. Some ideas: Allowing on-line hunter safety and trapping courses would be a good start. Although well intended, it has caused part of the problem, as has the PC culture in schools and on television. Another thing would be to keep the youth deer season back in the best prime time and not buckle to those who gripe about it. A good hunter shouldn't be worried about some competition from some youngsters. Put a ML or firearms season back in the works over Christmas break while all the kids are off from school, and not buckle to the whiners here either. Its about recruitment, without hunters and fisherman it is a moot point, and that should be the most important factor.Last edited by pimplepounder; 06-10-2017 at 08:48 PM. Reason: spelling
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