Guess how much in discounted licenses Fish, Wildlife and Parks handed out last year? It was more than $4 million. One quarter of that went to discounted licenses for senior citizens and youngsters alone. These are both worthy groups, but at what point as license revenue shrivels do we say enough is enough?
This legislative session will see more requests for special treatment for special people. On Thursday a hearing was held on a bill sponsored by Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, that would set aside eight mountain goat and bighorn sheep licenses for those 68 and older. The proposal was opposed by a few sportsmen’s organizations as being unfair.
What do you think? Should the state provide discounts on licenses to special groups? Eventually, we’ll likely all have to pay more for licenses if the number of hunters and anglers trends downward and the cost of doing business for FWP rises.
This post was written by Brett French, Outdoors Editor of the Billings Gazette
