Interesting read:</p>
http://www.polknewsonline.com/polk-wildlife-committee-angered-by-twra-proposed-rate-increase/ </p>
Members of Polk County’s Wildlife and Fisheries Committee are not happy with a proposed 30% rate increase from TWRA for hunting and fishing licenses. Committee members met last Tuesday to discuss the issue; another meeting is planned for Thursday just before the commission meeting, where a representative from TWRA will be invited to answer questions. The committee also discussed the need for TWRA to be held accountable for their decisions.
Tennessee is already higher on sportsman’s licenses than all surrounding states. In Tennessee, a sportsman’s license is $136 per year before the proposed increase, which is set to take effect in June. The same license in Georgia is $55. In North Carolina, the license is $65. Alabama charges $47, South Carolina charges $50, Mississippi charges $47, Kentucky charges $95, and Arkansas charges $25.
Committee member John Pippenger said he looked online for the actual increase proposal, but couldn’t find it. Committee member Joey Akins said it was in a newsletter. Akins said the newsletter said any license purchased before June would be at the old rate.
“5% would be a slap in the face,” said Committee member Greg Brooks. “30% is unfathomable.”
Committee member John Qualls said someone needed to put on thumb on TWRA. He said if they couldn’t manage their money any better, they needed to be run by the state. He said that should bring prices down and that TWRA needed to show them why prices needed to go up.
“They need to not just hold it, but reduce it,” Qualls said, pointing out that Tennessee is as much as 2/3 more than what other states are charging. He said other states were furnishing opportunities for their residents that Tennessee was not. Qualls suggested taking the momentum gained while fighting hog regulations to encourage other counties to fight the issue, as well.
Brooks said the gap in fees was too wide. He said TWRA had to be mismanaging their money. He made a motion to formally request TWRA’s budget for the last 24 months. Brooks said he was very interested in seeing how much was spent on the hog eradication program, which included the use of helicopters to find hogs. He said other states let people hunt hogs in order to get rid of them once they were classified as a nuisance while Tennessee stopped letting them be hunted.
Qualls said 13 counties had followed Polk County’s lead in voting for a resolution against TWRA’s hog regulations and about half of those formed their own Wildlife Committee. He suggested sending a letter to every county in the state to share information and encourage them to pass a resolution opposing the rate changes. Qualls said it made a difference on the hog regulations and they needed to put even more pressure on TWRA this time.
Keith Barker said it is cheaper for him to buy an out-of-state license in North Carolina to hunt. He suggested most people don’t realize the licenses in other states are so much cheaper. The committee agreed. They decided to include the prices for licenses in surrounding states in the information being sent to other counties.
Brooks said there was a lack of vision from TWRA. He said they did not use money raised from “lifetime” hunting licenses the way they should have. Qualls pointed out the cost of the lifetime license was more than triple that of other states. He said the lifetime license in Tennessee was $1620, compared to $500 in Georgia and Florida, and $486 in Alabama.
Akins asked what kind of effect it would have on the economy if non-resident licenses were raised. He said it was only $20 to hunt for 5 days in Georgia. The state and the county will lose money if hunters and fisherman decide to go elsewhere to hunt or fish.
Pippenger suggested asking TWRA for an apology. He said lower-middle class families would not be able to afford the license. Akins said there were not as many younger people hunting anymore, but the price increase could hinder those who wanted to. He said a single parent could not afford it and older people were already having to choose between medication and food. Pippenger pointed out Tennesseeans were supposed to have a guaranteed right to hunt and fish, but TWRA was making it financially impossible.
Akins said the committee that voted on TWRA issues did not answer to anyone and he didn’t think people realized that. He said they met in the Ducks Unlimited building and felt that showed who was running things. “They’re regulated by nobody; that is the root of the problem,” Akins said. He said something had to change. “They have to answer to somebody,” Akins said.
Brooks said in North Carolina they were prohibited from raising the fees more than the amount of inflation. He said that was something Bell could do.
If the proposed rate increase is approved by the state’s wildlife committee, it does not have to be approved in Nashville. TWRA was initially part of the state’s budget, but was taken out in 2005. Red Harden said the governor made most of the appointments to that committee, but some were appointed by the House. Brooks said he didn’t think most of them were even hunters. Akins said he wanted to see a change in the way they were appointed.
Pippenger suggested talking to Mike Bell and Dan Howell about trying to get TWRA back under the state budget. Harden pointed out the grants received by TWRA were matched by the state and they had a lobbyist. Pippenger said it could take years to affect that sort of change; the committee agreed they had to start somewhere and would pull out all the stops to try.
Committee members did not know when the new fees would be voted on, only that it would be in January. Qualls suggested that if the current fees were good until June, they should continue their efforts until then even if it is voted on in January. He said he wanted to see every hunter and fisherman putting pressure on and encouraged the committee to do everything possible to get the word out. Pippenger said he would work on a resolution to bring to the county commission Thursday and would send the resolution to all 95 counties along with the information the committee put together.
Brooks said every other state did a better job and offered better opportunities for less money. He pointed out that even the Forest Service was making cuts. He said TWRA had two game wardens in every county and could make cuts instead of trying to tax their way out of a bad financial situation.
Qualls said TWRA would continue as they were as long as outdoorsmen continued buying licenses.
“Until hunters decide enough is enough, they will keep doing it. If people are willing to just not buy one, you could talk to them then,” Qualls said.</p> <span class="a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_facebook" />
</p>
http://www.polknewsonline.com/polk-wildlife-committee-angered-by-twra-proposed-rate-increase/ </p>
Members of Polk County’s Wildlife and Fisheries Committee are not happy with a proposed 30% rate increase from TWRA for hunting and fishing licenses. Committee members met last Tuesday to discuss the issue; another meeting is planned for Thursday just before the commission meeting, where a representative from TWRA will be invited to answer questions. The committee also discussed the need for TWRA to be held accountable for their decisions.
Tennessee is already higher on sportsman’s licenses than all surrounding states. In Tennessee, a sportsman’s license is $136 per year before the proposed increase, which is set to take effect in June. The same license in Georgia is $55. In North Carolina, the license is $65. Alabama charges $47, South Carolina charges $50, Mississippi charges $47, Kentucky charges $95, and Arkansas charges $25.
Committee member John Pippenger said he looked online for the actual increase proposal, but couldn’t find it. Committee member Joey Akins said it was in a newsletter. Akins said the newsletter said any license purchased before June would be at the old rate.
“5% would be a slap in the face,” said Committee member Greg Brooks. “30% is unfathomable.”
Committee member John Qualls said someone needed to put on thumb on TWRA. He said if they couldn’t manage their money any better, they needed to be run by the state. He said that should bring prices down and that TWRA needed to show them why prices needed to go up.
“They need to not just hold it, but reduce it,” Qualls said, pointing out that Tennessee is as much as 2/3 more than what other states are charging. He said other states were furnishing opportunities for their residents that Tennessee was not. Qualls suggested taking the momentum gained while fighting hog regulations to encourage other counties to fight the issue, as well.
Brooks said the gap in fees was too wide. He said TWRA had to be mismanaging their money. He made a motion to formally request TWRA’s budget for the last 24 months. Brooks said he was very interested in seeing how much was spent on the hog eradication program, which included the use of helicopters to find hogs. He said other states let people hunt hogs in order to get rid of them once they were classified as a nuisance while Tennessee stopped letting them be hunted.
Qualls said 13 counties had followed Polk County’s lead in voting for a resolution against TWRA’s hog regulations and about half of those formed their own Wildlife Committee. He suggested sending a letter to every county in the state to share information and encourage them to pass a resolution opposing the rate changes. Qualls said it made a difference on the hog regulations and they needed to put even more pressure on TWRA this time.
Keith Barker said it is cheaper for him to buy an out-of-state license in North Carolina to hunt. He suggested most people don’t realize the licenses in other states are so much cheaper. The committee agreed. They decided to include the prices for licenses in surrounding states in the information being sent to other counties.Brooks said there was a lack of vision from TWRA. He said they did not use money raised from “lifetime” hunting licenses the way they should have. Qualls pointed out the cost of the lifetime license was more than triple that of other states. He said the lifetime license in Tennessee was $1620, compared to $500 in Georgia and Florida, and $486 in Alabama.
Akins asked what kind of effect it would have on the economy if non-resident licenses were raised. He said it was only $20 to hunt for 5 days in Georgia. The state and the county will lose money if hunters and fisherman decide to go elsewhere to hunt or fish.
Pippenger suggested asking TWRA for an apology. He said lower-middle class families would not be able to afford the license. Akins said there were not as many younger people hunting anymore, but the price increase could hinder those who wanted to. He said a single parent could not afford it and older people were already having to choose between medication and food. Pippenger pointed out Tennesseeans were supposed to have a guaranteed right to hunt and fish, but TWRA was making it financially impossible.
Akins said the committee that voted on TWRA issues did not answer to anyone and he didn’t think people realized that. He said they met in the Ducks Unlimited building and felt that showed who was running things. “They’re regulated by nobody; that is the root of the problem,” Akins said. He said something had to change. “They have to answer to somebody,” Akins said.
Brooks said in North Carolina they were prohibited from raising the fees more than the amount of inflation. He said that was something Bell could do.
If the proposed rate increase is approved by the state’s wildlife committee, it does not have to be approved in Nashville. TWRA was initially part of the state’s budget, but was taken out in 2005. Red Harden said the governor made most of the appointments to that committee, but some were appointed by the House. Brooks said he didn’t think most of them were even hunters. Akins said he wanted to see a change in the way they were appointed.
Pippenger suggested talking to Mike Bell and Dan Howell about trying to get TWRA back under the state budget. Harden pointed out the grants received by TWRA were matched by the state and they had a lobbyist. Pippenger said it could take years to affect that sort of change; the committee agreed they had to start somewhere and would pull out all the stops to try.
Committee members did not know when the new fees would be voted on, only that it would be in January. Qualls suggested that if the current fees were good until June, they should continue their efforts until then even if it is voted on in January. He said he wanted to see every hunter and fisherman putting pressure on and encouraged the committee to do everything possible to get the word out. Pippenger said he would work on a resolution to bring to the county commission Thursday and would send the resolution to all 95 counties along with the information the committee put together.
Brooks said every other state did a better job and offered better opportunities for less money. He pointed out that even the Forest Service was making cuts. He said TWRA had two game wardens in every county and could make cuts instead of trying to tax their way out of a bad financial situation.
Qualls said TWRA would continue as they were as long as outdoorsmen continued buying licenses.
“Until hunters decide enough is enough, they will keep doing it. If people are willing to just not buy one, you could talk to them then,” Qualls said.</p> <span class="a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_facebook" />
</p>
