Thanks to the activism of NRA members, Michigan hunters were not saddled with outrageous hunting license fee increases in 2007. NRA stood alone in its battle against a proposal that would have raised license fees in Michigan. Legislation that was originally designed to double Michigan hunting license fees was defeated due to a lack of support.
Bureaucrats and other supporters of increasing hunting license fees predicted massive layoffs of conservation officers and public land closures, but when the final budget numbers for the year were revealed, the Department of Natural Resources had a balance of $10 million, and none of their dire predictions came to fruition!
NRA members are concerned that Michigan ranks last in the country in hunter retention, and continued attempts to price hunters out of the woods will only solidify the state’s dubious standing. Sportsmen already bear the burden of natural resources conservation, and the DNR’s short-sighted efforts to ignore other non-hunter, long term funding mechanisms is detrimental to Michigan’s hunting heritage.
While it appears NRA averted fee hikes in 2007, proponents will undoubtedly be back for more this year, so the fight is not over.
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