Colorado Parks and Wildlife is looking for the legislature to provide it with authority to increase hunting and fishing license fees for the first time in more than a decade, and we expect to see legislation along those lines during the 2018 legislative session. At one level, the reason for such an increase is very simple - the revenue generated by license fees has been eroded by inflation since the last increase, and in order to deliver the same kinds of service the agency needs to have the funding to keep up with those escalating costs.
But the most frequent question we've heard from anglers and sportsmen generally has been to hear more of the story: what are these funds needed for, and what types of investments specifically will the state make if anglers and hunters increase what we pay for licenses?
The most recent issue of High Country Angler offers some answers. Needs run the gamut from modernizing fish hatcheries, to restoring funds for the "Fishing is Fun" program to improve habitat and create new fishing access, to completing needed maintenance on fishing reservoirs that otherwise could be forced to be drained for dam safety reasons.
Read all about it here - and decide for yourself - are these investments good reasons to pay more on my fishing license? You'll have the chance to speak up on that question with your legislators this year.
