Michigan Hunting License Fee Increase Misses Target!

NRA stood alone in its battle against dramatic raises in hunting license fees, urging state lawmakers to resist doubling fees on Michigan hunters.  Thanks to your support and our resolve to do the right thing, Michigan hunters won’t be strapped with these outrageous fee increases this year!

Bureaucrats and other fee supporters foretold of massive layoffs and closures, but when the final budget numbers arrived for the year, the Department showed a balance of $10 million and none of these predictions came to fruition.  So why demand an additional $8 million from Michigan’s hunters?  That is the very question your NRA asked during the entire yearlong debate.      

Sportsmen already shoulder the burden of natural resource conservation.  Our members are concerned that Michigan ranks last in hunter retention and continued attempts to price hunters out of the woods will only exacerbate the problem.  While it appears NRA has averted fee hikes this year, proponents will undoubtedly be back for more.  Advocates of revenue hikes should consider a couple alternatives.  Living within a budget, like most Michigan families have been forced to do, is a necessity.  Also, consideration of funding alternatives that extend outside the hunting community for the benefit of this shared resource.