License bill goes to Governor

No resident fees can be increased until MDWFP raises non-resident fees

Future Mississippi resident hunting and fishing license fee rates are now in the Governor’s hands.

Late last week, the House concurred with a Senate amendment to H.B. 1151 that directs revenues from the increase be used to hire, train and supply the enforcement wing of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

That, along with amendments previously attached in the House, took the bill to Gov. Phil Bryant, and if he approves, it would be the first resident license fee increase since 1993.

However, the MDWFP’s Commission must first pass a non-resident fee increase before the new resident rates are effective. An earlier amendment made by bill author Scott Bounds (R-Philadelphia) — “or else I couldn’t have gotten enough support for House approval” — makes that necessary. H.B. 1151 sets no guidelines as to the amount of the required non-resident increase, nor does it address which non-resident licenses would be affected.

If H.B. 1151 is signed and a non-resident fee increase is enacted then:

* The fee for a small-game hunt and fish license will increase from $8 to $10.

* The fee for an all-game hunt and fish will increase from $17 to $25.

* The fee for the all-inclusive Sportsman’s License will rise from $31 to $45.

The impact of the increase would be immediate in Year 1. With the state averaging over 100,000 Sportsman’s Licenses a year, the MDWFP would receive $1.4 million in increased revenue from that type license alone.

“While I didn’t support tying the resident increase to a non-resident increase, I do know that the amount of revenue the agency will be receiving from both residents and non-residents will help fund programs,” said Troy Thomas of Hattiesburg. “My friends from Louisiana are already paying over $400 to hunt deer and turkey here, while I’ve been paying $31.

“I hope we don’t price them out of interest in coming here, because that $400 is just a drop in the bucket to what they spend in Mississippi during a hunting season.”