N.H. Fish and Game funding plan debated
CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is getting mixed reaction to its plan to ward off a budget shortfall by imposing new fees on boaters and taking a portion of the state's rooms and meals tax.
Unlike most state departments, Fish and Game is self-supporting and must pay for its operations through fees paid mostly by hunters and anglers. The department is proposing a $10 annual conservation fee for all non-motorized boats, an annual fee for salt-water anglers, and taking a cut of the rooms and meals tax.
Jason MacKenzie, whose Greenland convenience store sells fishing tackle, bait, and licenses, said the new fees would drive anglers away.
"I think it would be a crazy move because New Hampshire has such a small coastline that people will just go to Maine or go to Massachusetts," he said.
But Jason Parent, who owns a sporting goods store in Laconia, said the proposed fees are fair and that the new revenue would benefit all residents, some of whom may one day need to be rescued by Fish and Game officials.
And John Roskilly, who manages a canoe shop in Center Harbor, believes kayakers and recreational boaters wouldn't mind paying the $10 fee if they believe the money will be dedicated to conservation.
"Most people who have a canoe or kayak are conservation - minded anyway," Roskilly said.
The department's scope over the years has expanded to include search-and-rescue missions and provide access to public waters. At the same time, hunting and fishing has declined in New Hampshire, and the cost of health insurance premiums and medical benefits for retired Fish and Game workers has risen dramatically.
Lee Perry, Fish and Game's executive director, said the agency plans to file a bill in the state Legislature in January seeking approval for the plan and will ask Governor John Lynch to put $1.6 million from the general fund in the agency's budget for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.
State Representative Norman Major, Republican of Plaistow and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he does not favor earmarking $1.6 million in rooms and meals tax revenue each year for the Fish and Game budget because it could prompt other agencies to make similar requests.
But Major said he understands that the state needs to do something. "I'm an advocate that they ought to get some money from the general fund."
Going after saltwater fishermen and non-motorized boaters for revenue could be detrimental to the tourism industry, he said.
"We want our Fish and Game to do search-and-rescues and enforce the laws on the lakes and rivers, not be tax collectors," Major said.
