Committee backs bill to bar people with unpaid Fish and Game fines from buying licenses

The Senate Resources & Environment Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1003 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after a hearing in which lawmakers and Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials described how the state would block people with unpaid Fish and Game fines from obtaining hunting, fishing or trapping licenses.

Senator Dan Foreman, who presented the bill, said the proposal would amend Idaho Code to make anyone with outstanding fines for violations of Fish and Game laws ineligible to apply for a hunting, fishing or trapping license, tag or permit until the fines are paid. Foreman asked the committee to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation.

Greg Wooten, chief of enforcement for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, told the committee how the change would work in practice. He said lifetime certificate holders must still request a yearly license tied to the…