Target on the outdoors

Bills set sights on outdoor users

Like the perennial arrival of snow geese at Freezeout Lake, Montana legislators have descended on the water.

Watersports, that is. Legislators are once again looking to tap rafters, kayakers, sailors and canoeists to help pay for Montana's fishing access sites.

House Bill 260, introduced to the Legislature by Rep. William Jones, R-Bigfork, asks for an annual fee of $8 to be levied on all kayaks, rafts, sailboats and other hand- or wind-powered crafts that are launched at public fishing access sites in Montana. The watercrafts would be required to affix a decal to their boat as proof of purchase.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks would use the money to maintain current fishing access sites and to purchase additional ones.

The bill also would increase the cost of resident and nonresident conservation licenses. The bill is similar to one that failed in the 2003 Legislature, but with modifications.

For instance, HB 260 gives fiscal accountability that the previous bill did not, according to John Gangemi, western conservation director for American Whitewater. Gangemi opposed the previous bill and his organization opposes this bill, too, on the grounds that most kayakers, rafters and others pay their fair share through purchase of fishing licenses and conservation licenses.

According to state budget director Dave Ewer, the bill would generate roughly $237,000 in 2006 and $474,000 in 2007 on the decal purchases alone. There are roughly 59,000 people who launch nonmotorized crafts at state access sites each year, according to the state.

But the largest portion of money generated under Jones' bill would come from an increase in conservation license fees. These licenses are required of any person who wishes to purchase a hunting or fishing license.

In 2003, Montana sold about 224,000 resident conservation licenses and 155,747 nonresident conservation licenses, according to the bill.

Under the proposed legislation, revenue from conservation license increases would be $1.4 million in 2006 and $2.7 million in 2007.

Of that money, 10 percent will be used for enforcement of the new law, 45 percent will be spent on operations and maintenance, and 45 percent will be used for fishing access-site land acquisition as directed by a citizen-advisory board.

The bill also requires that anyone who uses one of the 320 fishing access sites operated by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks pay a fee. The FWP commission would set the fee for the fishing access license. Ewer estimates it would be $5 for residents and $10 for nonresidents.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks would sell 8,000 of these resident fishing access-site use licenses and 2,000 nonresident use licenses, generating $60,000 annually. The bill also includes a section that would allow hunters who are unsuccessful in drawing a special permit to donate their license fee to the fund that operates the fishing access sites.

Doug Monger, parks administrator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said the bill helps spread the cost of maintaining and acquiring access sites over a broader spectrum of users.

"There are 320 access sites in Montana, and the only folks that are paying for those are anglers," Monger said. "If you don't have a fishing license you haven't contributed to the acquisition or maintenance of those sites. I think the premise of the bill is very valid. How as a population do we want to pay for these sites? I think the bill raises some really good issues and we'll see what the Legislature does with it."

FWP has a budget of about $375,000 a year for access acquisition, Monger said. In the early 1970s, FWP added several sites a year, but he said because of land costs only a couple sites have been added to the list in the last two years.

"Landowners used to just let people come and go, and there are different views on private property now," Monger said.

AMERICAN WHITEWATER, a national conservation organization, opposes the bill. Gangemi, based in Bigfork, says kayakers, rafters and canoeists should not have to shoulder a large portion of maintenance and land-acquisition costs for a program used by a broad spectrum of the public.

Currently, a portion of the cost of a fishing license goes to the state fund to operate fishing access sites. Therefore, people who kayak and fish are paying twice, Gangemi says.

In the 2003 version of the bill, the cost of enforcing the law was more than what the law generated, according to Gangemi. "Why should we have to pay for an enforcement program to make sure we're complying," Gangemi said. "We're not opposed to fees and (helping fund) access sites, but boaters should not be the ones who shoulder the bill."

He said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks did a better job on this bill, although it's still flawed.

"To their credit, they took many of the comments from 2003 and included them in the new bill, which is great to see," Gangemi said.

Randy Gaynor, co-owner of Glacier Wilderness Guides in West Glacier, uses mainly Forest Service access sites for his company's trips on the Middle and North forks of the Flathead River. His company already pays a percent of gross revenues that amounts to about $10 per boat per year and he says he's against any new taxes on his rafts.

Most of Northwest Montana's fishing access sites are on lakes or reservoirs, which are used mainly by motorized boats. Those vessels would not be required to purchase this license, since boat owners already pay license fees to the state.

Fishing access sites on rivers in the Flathead Valley are located mostly on the main stem of the Flathead Riverm including Teakettle, Presentine, Old Steel Bridge and the Sportsman Bridge.

As for land acquisition, the law would generate $669,000 in 2006 and $1.34 million in 2007 for new fishing access sites, according to Ewer. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has a staff of three land agents who work on acquisition, right-of way and lease issues for the state's Habitat Montana and fishing access programs. The new law, if approved, would require one additional land agent and an additional $8,000 in operations for supplies and travel, Ewer wrote in his fiscal impact notes.

According to the bill, FWP has identified 35 new fishing access sites for potential purchase. In order to acquire some of these sites, the department needs $791,786 in 2006 and $1.6 million in 2007. An additional $435,492 will be needed for sanitation and access, according to the bill's language.

Requiring a fishing access license or a conservation license to use access sites will require increased enforcement at the 320 sites around Montana. The department estimates that it would need to double patrols to ensure an acceptable level of compliance, the bill says.

The HB 260 has had one hearing so far.

On the Net: www.discoveringmontana.com