KS Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Resident Seniors

[Lang, Tom]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here in Kansas we recently made a major change to our Senior License exemption and I thought I would share that with all of you. See Senate Bill 314 Summary below, it was signed into law on May 25th.

 

Tom

 

 

 

Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Resident Seniors

 

These provisions will take effect January 1, 2013:

 

• Increases the age of a person exempt from purchasing hunting or fishing licenses from 65 or more years of age to 75 or more years of age;

 

• Creates a resident senior combination hunting and fishing pass ("senior pass") for those 65 years old or older, at a cost that does not exceed one-eighth of the fee for a general combination lifetime hunting and fishing license o KDWPT expects the senior pass to cost $40.00, plus transaction fees.

 

Current lifetime license holders are not affected, even if they are between 65 and 75 years of age.

 

• Establishes a half-price annual hunting or fishing license fee for residents who are 65 to 74 years of age. As of this writing, the cost of this license would be $9.00 plus transaction fees.

 

• Establishes a half-price annual combination hunting and fishing license for residents who are age 65 to 74. As of this writing, the cost of this license would be $18.00 plus transaction fees.

 

• Sunsets the senior pass and the half-price annual hunting, fishing, and combination license fees on June 30, 2020.

 

 

Note: these license fees and the federal reimbursements they provide can be used only to support fish and wildlife programs. The funds cannot be used to support the state parks or tourism programs. Examples of fish and wildlife programs are:

 

•Walk-in Hunting Access (WIHA) to more than 1 million acres of private land for public use

 

• The Community Fisheries Assistance Program (CFAP) helps more than 250 community lakes

 

• Fisheries management, fish habitat programs at 24 federal reservoirs and 40 state fishing lakes

 

• Wildlife-related law enforcement

 

• Wildlife management at 100 public wildlife areas

 

• Boating access

 

• Research, education, and wildlife population and health monitoring

 

 

 

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************************************************

Tom Lang

Fisheries Programs Specialist

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism

512 SE 25th Ave

Pratt, KS 67124

Ph. 620-672-0722

Cell 620-450-8306

Fax 620-672-0821

"Don't tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly,

don't tell them where they know the fish"

~Mark Twain

************************************************

 

[Crews, Andrea]

Interesting approach, I like it. What happens after June 30, 2020?

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[Lang, Tom]

I would guess that they begin paying full price until age 75. That is how interpret it at least.

[Summers, Greg]

HI Tom,

 

Have you considered the idea that to count the 65-74 seniors as licensed anglers for Federal Aid, Kansas must generate at least $1.00 per year in revenue for each of them to be counted?

 

Greg L. Summers, Supervisor

Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory

Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife Conservation

500 E. Constellation

Norman, OK 73072

voice:       405-325-7288

fax:          405-325-7631

cell:         405-623-5804

email:      gsum...@odwc.state.ok.us

 

There is certainly something in angling that tends

to produce a serenity of the mind.  ~Washington Irving

 

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From: statesdirect...@googlegroups.com [mailto:statesdirect...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lang, Tom

Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 9:48 AM
To: statesdirect...@googlegroups.com; AREA

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[Lang, Tom]

Hey Greg,

 

I'm just sharing the outcome of this deal man. I was not included in the thought process and won't attempt to presume what did or did not go in to the thought process of our folks in Topeka.

 

I do know that we are already receiving federal aid for many of these folks because of their need to purchase additional permits like trout permits, 3rd-pole permits, deer tags, turkey tags, etc. Much of the revenue boost is simply likely to come from the licenses themselves. We may also see a boost in our general lifetime licenses from this simply because now a "lifetime" just added another 10 years and is a better value.

 

It is surprising how well it was supported in the legislature though, especially with a bunch of grumpy folks out there. When some folks have complained to me I have asked them this simple question with follow up points. "You fish, so our fisheries resources matter to you right? So why at age 65 do you all of sudden think you shouldn't care about supporting fisheries conservation and management anymore? All of the revenue from the licenses are required by law to go to the fisheries. I understand you are on a fixed income but I bet you have more disposable income than a young family nowadays and besides it's not a tax, its a user fee. You can choose not to pay it and not fish." Just a couple of things I share with folks to try and give them a different perspective on the matter.

 

Tom

[Sciascia, Jim]

Smart move Tom. I’ve been looking at our license buyer age distribution over the past year and the Southwick Survey summary report and NJ has the dubious distinction of the highest percentage of anglers and 2^nd highest percentage of hunters over 65 in the northeast. Both hunters and anglers get reduced license at 65 and free fishing license at 70. I estimate it costs us about $1 million/year and as our hunting and angling population continues to skew more toward the 65 end, it’s going to cost us even more in the future. This is a hot button topic with me especially this year after having to respond to numerous seniors who want free everything….licenses, permits, stamps etc.  Another thing that makes me steam when I hear seniors whine about paying anything is that they get the lion’s share of the resource and use of the resource since they have the most time to hunt and fish. I really hope what happened in Kansas becomes a trend across the country. The reduced and no fees for seniors flies in the face of what sportsmen have proudly claimed forever and that is we voluntarily support the fish and wildlife resource like no other user group through the license fees we pay. I want to continue to be able to say the when I’m 65 (which is not that far away unfortunately).Thanks for letting us know about your legislation.

 

Jim

 

From: statesdirect...@googlegroups.com [mailto:statesdirect...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Lang, Tom

Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 10:48 AM
To: statesdirect...@googlegroups.com; AREA

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[Brian_B...@fws.gov]

For those of you on the listserv, Greg's comment below is based on a the relatively new change in the Federal regulations associated with which licenses a state can claim for purposes of the Federal Aid in Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs' apportionment calculations.  

The relatively recent change in regulations established the $1 criteria officially in the regulations.  This actual monetary amount criteria had been bantered about for many years. Over the years, opinions ranged from $0.01 to $1.00 or even other figures as a needed monetary amount of net revenue to the state in order to be claimed for the overall licenses sold criteria.

This can be a confusing issue since many states sell quite a few different licenses and permits that are not reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the state agencies for purposes of the official license numbers used to determine state apportionments from the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration Programs.  The numbers reported to the Fish and Wildlife Service are either reported by the states' Licensing Section directly or through your state Federal Aid Coordinator position (as was the case for me when I was the coordinator for the Kansas state agency in the Pleistocene era).

This is a very important heads up for those states that may be pursuing special licenses (be it senior, youth, etc etc).


Brian Bohnsack
Recreational Boating and Fishing Liaison
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 Fairfax Drive, Mailstop AEA-3103
Arlington, VA 22203
703-358-2435 (office)
703-358-2548 (fax)
brian_b...@fws.gov

"Summers, Greg" <gsum...@odwc.state.ok.us> Sent by: statesdirect...@googlegroups.com 06/15/2012 11:33 AM Please respond to statesdirect...@googlegroups.com

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