Bill to Increase Hunting and Fishing Fees by 32% Bravely Passed by House
The much needed bill to increase fishing and hunting fees by more than 32% was bravely passed by the House on a 35-25 vote. The House is to be commended for their brave stance on this bill, which was not favored by most sportsmen and sportswomen in Oregon. A 32% increase seems draconian to some, however, this bill was needed for several reasons, the most important of which are listed below:
1. The money will allow the State Fish and Wildlife Department to provide more fish to be caught and more animals to be hunted. These new funds will greatly expand the programs already in place to provide ample wildlife for the sportspeople to hunt down and kill. Removing invasive species, stocking lakes and streams, conserving wildlife habitat, implementing recovery plans for endangered animals, and other such programs will now have increased funds to continue this vital work.
2. These new funds will enable the Fish and Wildlife Department to hire more personnel, such as wildlife veterinarians, project engineers, programmer analysts, fish screening technicians, asset system accountants, experimental biology aides, fish habitat biologists, and many, many more. Without personnel in these vital positions there would be far, far fewer fish to be caught and wildlife to be killed.
3. The budget for the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife Department for 2009 – 2011 is only 263 million dollars. There are only 1,350 positions in the Department. The strains are showing statewide. This is simply not be enough. Oregon is the 10th largest state in the union, which many do not realize, and that’s a lot of ground to cover. More funding is necessary and now more will be available.
4. Feral swine is becoming a big problem in Oregon. City-dwellers may not know this, but informed eco-citizens do, and it must be contained. It is not inexpensive to hunt down and kill these destructive pests, although I am told the bacon is quite good.
5. Other areas where Fish and Wildlife is involved and that need increased funding include, but are not limited to, capital improvement, fishing enhancements, brochures, classes, ODOT liaison work, enforcement, conservation strategy implementation, wave energy management, marine reserve site evaluation, web and network upgrades, road and trail access, hunter and fisher education, and many, many more.
So, when you dig into your wallet for that fishing or hunting license and you get a mild case of sticker shock at the 32% increase just remember that it was needed and will be put to good use for your benefit.
2. These new funds will enable the Fish and Wildlife Department to hire more personnel, such as wildlife veterinarians, project engineers, programmer analysts, fish screening technicians, asset system accountants, experimental biology aides, fish habitat biologists, and many, many more. Without personnel in these vital positions there would be far, far fewer fish to be caught and wildlife to be killed.
3. The budget for the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife Department for 2009 – 2011 is only 263 million dollars. There are only 1,350 positions in the Department. The strains are showing statewide. This is simply not be enough. Oregon is the 10th largest state in the union, which many do not realize, and that’s a lot of ground to cover. More funding is necessary and now more will be available.
4. Feral swine is becoming a big problem in Oregon. City-dwellers may not know this, but informed eco-citizens do, and it must be contained. It is not inexpensive to hunt down and kill these destructive pests, although I am told the bacon is quite good.
5. Other areas where Fish and Wildlife is involved and that need increased funding include, but are not limited to, capital improvement, fishing enhancements, brochures, classes, ODOT liaison work, enforcement, conservation strategy implementation, wave energy management, marine reserve site evaluation, web and network upgrades, road and trail access, hunter and fisher education, and many, many more.
So, when you dig into your wallet for that fishing or hunting license and you get a mild case of sticker shock at the 32% increase just remember that it was needed and will be put to good use for your benefit.
I am glad this passed.
The idea behind it was to allow those who enjoy wildlife but don't hunt or fish pay their fair share.
There is a federal tax on ammunition for just this purpose. I see no reason not to have a state tax on everything at stores like LL Bean and REI sell that is shipped into Oregon.
Bike paths in scenic areas that have no possible commuting purpose and thus establish no halo around a persons head for supposedly getting to work in a green manner could be paid for by a state tax on all bicycles and helmets.
When they come for my money to pay for their stuff, I constantly hear a refrain of "we are all in it together". Yet when I suggest a compromise - come for their money for their stuff there is this weird silence.
Curious isn't it?
Liberalism - The worlds most expensive comedy act.
A secondary regulatory market would be increasing the apparel IR reflectivity and emistivity. The increased cooling efficiency of the chemical mechanical body will reduce the emission of CO2 and di-hydrogen monoxide which are both dangerous pollutants.
A hue tax will be used to discourage dangerous tones such as black or white. A chroma cap will further reduce dangerous tones. Proper hues will flourish and the newly repainted Moss House estimate is the more common tones will be Lime green, pea green, and puke green.
The best news is the Moss House budget shows the cost of the hue tax and chroma cap combined will be less than the cost of a green stamp a day.
Hugh Greenbucks, CEO of the Herbivore Clothing Company (HC) was the first to announce support of hue croma, saying it was key to the recovery plans of his company. Geenbucks immediately ordered HC subsidiary, the Moss Broadcasting Company (MBC) to promote hue chroma on all news and entertainment venues.
In other news HC CFO told Bloomberg Financial that HC expects to add 1,000,000 new green jobs. These jobs will be located at HC's new hue chroma plant and will be funded under a no bid $910,000,000,000 contract with the Moss House. The new expenditure was authorized in a 3 AM meeting between the Squeaker of the House, the Senate Majority leader, and Moss House staff. The Squeaker said she would inform congress how they voted on Monday.
Dateline Salem : in a surprise move Mule party members amended HB00666S at an unprecedented 12 NOON committee meeting. The primary amendment is a boot fee of $500. Elephant party members who were unaware of the special committee meeting complained the fee represented a $1,000 tax on anyone that actually wanted to see a tree in the forest. Dave Seek, Oregon House Squeakier was outraged saying this was a DISCOUNT of $500 for one legged hikers and double amputees would pay no fee at all.
When contacted by the Oregoniac an Oregon TaxDog analyst admitted that technically amputees would receive a discount. He also pointed out the fees included a $750 cane tip tax and a crutch tip tax of $350 each.
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Boomberg, Washington DC : At a special news conference today Moss House chief of staff Rod Imautomatic expressed outrage at Elephant charges that the green hue chroma jobs would cost a million dollars each. He said the Mules have proven that Government is far more efficient than private enterprise or free markets.
Elephant chairman Michael Copper repeated his criticism saying it would be more efficient to simply randomly hand out million dollar checks. Moss House spokesman laughed saying what do the Elephants think the Government is, a lottery?
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