Oklahoma House of Representatives

Media Division
September 24, 2003

OKLAHOMA CITY - A new $3 state wildlife conservation administration
fee has triggered a flurry of complaints from migratory bird hunters and
Oklahomans who own lifetime hunting licenses.
Legislators who attended a meeting here Tuesday of the House and
Senate Wildlife Committees said they had received numerous telephone
calls from irate hunters throughout the state about recent increases in
license and permit fees.
House Bill 1663, passed this year, provides a $2 administration fee
and a $1 vendor fee to continue implementing the migratory bird Harvest
Information Program (HIP). The measure also authorized an increase in
the price of a waterfowl hunting stamp, from $4 to $9.
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation records indicate that
HB 1663 authorized a price hike in Oklahoma's resident hunting and
fishing licenses for only the second time in more than a decade and a
half. Even with the increases, Oklahoma's licenses will still be on a
par with license fees in neighboring states, officials reported.
"HIP is required by federal law for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to compile more reliable migratory bird harvest estimates
throughout the nation, and each state is mandated to implement the
program," said Richard Hatcher, state Wildlife Conservation Department
assistant director. "We are trying to standardize survey techniques for
harvesting migratory birds in order to give biologists the information
they need to make sound decisions regarding hunting seasons, bag limits
and population management in general."
Migratory bird hunters are required to participate in HIP if they
bag ducks, coots, geese, brant, swans, doves, woodcock, snipe, sandhill
cranes, band-tailed pigeons, rails or gallinules.
This marks the ninth year for HIP in Oklahoma. "Since this hunting
permit has been in place, we've been giving it to hunters at no charge,
"Hatcher said. "We provide the permit to all of our approximately 1,000
license vendors throughout the state. The vendors use the same amount of
energy to provide that permit as they do all of the other licenses."
Hatcher said the Wildlife Commission believes those vendors deserve
to be compensated for the energy they expend issuing the permits. The
new fee was implemented July 1 and "grandfathered" back to Jan. 1 of
this year for anyone who has one of the formerly free permits.
Bird hunters are agitated that lifetime resident hunting license
holders are not exempt from having to obtain the permit and pay the fee.
Hatcher said the only exemptions required by federal law include hunters
over 65 years of age, hunters under 16, and landowners hunting on their
own property.
Of the 33 states that allow dove hunting, Oklahoma is among 11 that
charge a fee, and the number is increasing every year, Hatcher said.
He said the state Wildlife Commission certified about 48,000
harvest information permits last year. The funds accrued for
implementing HIP is minimal, Hatcher said, "So the $2 administration fee
that goes to the Wildlife Department is about $96,000" total per year,
although he did not know if as many permits would be issued this year.
"The money we spend on management of migratory birds, waterfowl
programs and habitat improvement in wildlife management areas for doves
will greatly exceed any funds that we take in for both the HIP and the
state waterfowl stamp," he said.
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Rep. M.C. Leist, a
member of the state House Committee on Wildlife.
"I don't have the answer," Hatcher said.
"Is it worth a $96,000 public relations wreck?" Leist asked.
"Probably not, but it is worth having good, sound science for
managing wildlife," Hatcher replied.
The new migratory bird permit fee is equal to "the price of a half
of a box of shells, but it's a pain. . .to have to go to a vendor and
track down a permit," Liest said. "We will talk about it as the year
progresses; there may be a different way to approach it."
House Speaker Larry E. Adair, D-Stilwell, said hunters on the first
day of dove season asked him how the money was going to be used. "I
agree with Representative Leist," Adair said. "This is something that
isn't going away. A lot of people from all corners of Oklahoma are going
to have a problem with this serious issue."
Rep. Dale Smith, D-St. Louis, co-chairman of the joint legislative
study panel and chairman of the House Committee on Wildlife, said he has
received several telephone calls from hunters about the fee increases
for migratory bird hunters and the waterfowl hunting stamp.
"It's not a matter of a $3 fee; it never was about the money,"
Hatcher said. "It's the principle of the thing. A lot of state hunters
believed they wouldn't have to pay for any other license or permit if
they had a lifetime resident hunting and fishing license."
He said lifetime license holders have always had to buy a trapping
permit or a trout license because they aren't exempt from all wildlife
licenses or permits. "We also recognize that lifetime license holders
are our most dedicated constituents," Hatcher added.
No fines have been written for anyone hunting migratory birds
without a permit, Hatcher told the legislators.
Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta, co-chairman of the legislative
study panel and chairman of the Senate Tourism and Wildlife Committee,
called it a "tough subject in which we all need to work together to come
up with a plan to please the majority of Oklahomans." No action was
taken during the committee meeting.
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Scott Hancock
Media Specialist
Oklahoma House of Representatives
1-800-522-8502 ext 422  ¶ 4:13 PM