Senior Hunting and Fishing Combination Pass

[Craig Johnson]

This news release was posted on the KDWPT website today.

CJ

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SENIOR HUNTING/FISHING PASS WOULD STOP FEDERAL FUNDING LOSS

March 29, 2012

Capturing federal funds one key to maintaining hunting and fishing programs

TOPEKA— Kansas hunters and anglers are losing money. Every time they buy a box of shotgun shells, a new crankbait or just about any other item of hunting and fishing equipment, the price includes a federal excise tax. That excise tax is then distributed back to the states by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), based partly on the number of licensed hunters and anglers in each state. The current exemption allowing Kansas residents 65 and older to fish and hunt without a license means that Kansas doesn’t get as much of the excise tax back as it deserves, and money that should be spent on Kansas wildlife and fishery programs is sent to other states.

Kansas Senate Bill 314, currently under consideration in the Kansas House, could stop the flow of money out of Kansas and help ensure the future of our hunting and fishing heritage. In its current form, the bill proposes a Lifetime Senior Hunting and Fishing Combination Pass (Senior Pass) valid for residents 65 and older. The Senior Pass can cost no more than one-eighth the cost of a regular lifetime combination hunting and fishing license, but department officials are committing to a lower fee of $40. If passed, SB314 would allow a Kansas hunter or angler to make a one-time purchase of a Lifetime Senior Hunting and Fishing Combination Pass when they turned 65, and Kansas would receive federal money each year based on that license sale for the next 18 years. The bill also exempts residents 75 and older from hunting and fishing license requirements.

Currently, Kansas receives about $25 in federal aid for each hunting/fishing combination license sold, but losses are substantial due to the senior exemption when you consider that an estimated 33,000 Kansans 65 and older hunt or fish. Officials estimate that the Senior Pass could bring in more than $873,000 in the short-term for wildlife and fishery programs. The estimated revenue could exceed $1.4 million in the long run. However, passing this bill will be even more important in the future because hunters and anglers over 64 are our fastest growing age group.

SB314 also proposes a half-price ($9) annual hunting or fishing license for those seniors not wanting the Senior Pass. The half-price annual license is a great bargain and would count toward federal funding. Supporters of this bill, including many seniors, understand that hunters and anglers pay for all wildlife and fishery programs, and they are rightfully proud of that legacy. It is truly a user-pays system in Kansas, as no State General Fund money is used for hunting and fishing programs. Broadening the funding base will help avoid increasing fees on a smaller number of younger hunters and anglers.

Ensuring adequate funding for conservation programs and keeping outdoor opportunities affordable for all is important to the future of our outdoor heritage. However, it’s just as important for hunters and anglers to be involved in this process by communicating with their legislators. Find the contact information of your senator or representative at www.kansas.gov/government/legislature and let them know where you stand on outdoor resource issues. They need to hear from a cross-section of people affected by potential changes.

The federal program that returns the federal excise tax money to the states is aptly called the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program (WSFR), and 2012 marks its 75^th anniversary. The program is remarkable both in how much money has been returned to states, more than $14 billion, and in how it came to be. The wildlife portion of this federal program is called Pittman-Robertson (P-R) after the congressmen who proposed the legislation. It was passed in 1937, which was a time when many of our nation’s wildlife resources were in peril. Amazingly, the very people who would be taxed pushed for the bill’s passage – hunters and the firearms industry. These far-sighted people understood that without such a program, our tremendous wildlife and hunting heritage might be lost forever.

In Kansas, we only need look in our backyards to see the amazing recovery of wildlife resources made possible by P-R. Today, Kansans enjoy outstanding hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, waterfowl, and pronghorn, species that were either nonexistent or on the brink of disaster at the turn of the century. In the last 75 years, Kansas has received more than $120 million for wildlife on a 75-25 matching basis; qualified programs are funded with 75 percent coming from P-R and 25 percent from license and permit revenues.

In 1950, Congress passed the Sport Fish Restoration Act, called Dingell-Johnson (D-J) after the bill’s sponsors. Modeled after P-R, D-J established an excise tax on fishing equipment, yachts, pleasure craft and motorboat fuel. D-J has generated nearly $7 billion for fisheries programs and boating access nationwide, with more than $100 million coming to Kansas.

In addition to wildlife species recoveries, WSFR made many of our most popular programs possible, including the fall and spring Walk-In Hunting Access programs, which open more than 1 million acres of privately-owned land to public hunting. WSFR helps fund the Fishing Impoundment and Stream Habitat (FISH) program and the Community Fisheries Assistance Program (CFAP), which provide hundreds of local fishing opportunities. And KDWPT uses WSFR funding to build boat ramps, deliver hunter education classes, and enhance hunting and fishing opportunities on 100 wildlife areas, 40 state fishing lakes, and 24 federal reservoirs.

Our fish and wildlife resources have been dramatically transformed in the last 75 years, and hunting and angling opportunities in Kansas have never been better. None of these changes would have been possible without hunters and anglers paying their way through the purchase of licenses and the excise taxes on equipment. SB314 will ensure this legacy for future generations.

[Fishslime]

Where are we at on this license issue? I read somewhere it was waiting for Brownback's signiture. If it has passed when is it in effect? Had a friend over 65 ask me if he has to buy a hunting license. Told him I didn't know but thought he was probably ok until 2013. Was I wrong?

[Craig Johnson]

Where are we at on this license issue? I read somewhere it was waiting for Brownback's signiture. If it has passed when is it in effect? Had a friend over 65 ask me if he has to buy a hunting license. Told him I didn't know but thought he was probably ok until 2013. Was I wrong?

Fishslime,

You are correct. The changes become effective Jan. 1, 2013.

See below for detailed info on SB314. Hunting and Fishing license info highlighted in RED.

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June 15, 2012

SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 314

SB 314 was signed into law by Governor Sam Brownback on May 25, 2012 and becomes effective July 1, 2012. This document summarizes the highlights of the law. The full text of the law is available online at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b201...4_enrolled.pdf . In summary, the new law:

• Amends prior laws regarding hunting and fishing license fees for resident seniors
• Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a pre-rut antlerless deer rifle season by deer management units
• Allows for a crossbow pilot project in up to four deer management units during an archery big game season by anyone issued a big game permit
• Impacts trespassing and big game hunting

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.
o 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 200 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


Pre-rut Antlerless Deer Rifle Season
• The Secretary must develop and implement a pre-rut antlerless deer rifle season by deer management units prior to April 30, 2013.
• The pre-rut anterless deer rifle season will sunset on July 1, 2015.
• The Secretary must develop and implement a combination antlered and antlerless deer permit prior to April 30, 2013.
Crossbow Use
• The Secretary must conduct a deer crossbow hunting pilot project in no more than four deer management units, and to study the effects of the pilot project on the state's deer population and the number of crossbow users in each deer management unit where the pilot is conducted.
• The Secretary must submit a report with the findings to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources by January 31, 2014.
• The pilot project will sunset on January 31, 2014.
• Anyone who has been issued a big game permit can use a crossbow during an archery big game season in pilot project deer management units.

Trespassing and Big Game Hunting
The law amends prior law impacting trespassing and big game hunting. Among those changes are the following:
• Clarifies that nothing in the provisions of KSA 58- 3201 et seq., and its amendments, shall be construed as granting an easement over land by the landowner or over land by adverse possession.
• Provides that if premises or property are posted as provided by provisions in the statutes dealing with wildlife and parks that individuals could be guilty of criminal trespass.
• Permits a court convicting a person of the crime of commercialization of wildlife to revoke all licenses and permits issued to the convicted person by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) for a period of up to 20 years.
• Modifies the penalty for the unlawful intentional taking of a trophy big game animal from $5,000 to not less than $5,000.
• Creates restitution values for deer, elk, and antelope if taken in violation of certain statutes by using a gross score for each.
o The Secretary must establish rules and regulations to determine gross scores by taking measurements (more than 125 inches for deer, more than 250 inches for elk, and more than 75 inches for antelope).
o Establishes formulas governing calculation of the restitution value for each species.
o Provides that no drying time be required for the measurement to occur.
o Requires that funds collected from restitution penalties be dedicated to the Wildlife Fee Fund.

[Fishslime]

Thanks Craig, Any idea when the "Senior Pass" will be available to purchase?

[Craig Johnson]

Thanks Craig, Any idea when the "Senior Pass" will be available to purchase?

I checked with the Chief of Licensing in the Pratt Office.

The Senior Pass will go on sale December 14, 2012.

Prices (with transaction fees included) will be as follows:

$11.50 hunt or fish
$20.50 combo hunt/fish
$42.50 lifetime hunt/fish