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Fish & Wildlife asks legislature to preserve authority for paddler access fee amid repeal effort
Summary
Fish & Wildlife officials urged lawmakers to preserve statutory authority to set an "area license" that would charge paddlers a modest fee to use 205 access areas, saying repeal language in the House could strip the department of administrative tools and unintentionally broaden requirements for other fees.
My name is Jason Bachelder, the commissioner, told the Senate Finance Committee that his department is proposing an "area license" to allow paddlers to pay a small fee to help maintain 205 fishing-access areas and related kiosks, mowing and snow removal. "This area license is essentially a license for folks who don't already pay into our ability to have fishing access," Bachelder said, adding that the proposed fee would be "less than the cost of a fishing license" and that existing fishing, hunting and motorboat registrations would exempt users from the new charge.
The depar…
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