Are you guys for real?

How about the WDFW charge the going rate for using boat launches. I don't know about the rest of the state but the various Puget Sound launches that I have used in recent years (City, County, State Parks etc) daily launch fees are $5 to $10 per day with annual passes typcially $35 or more. We get a annual pass for free with our license and can buy another for $5. Non-license holders can get a permit for the grand sum of $10. Private access points often charge even more.

Of course if we fishermen were willing to pay for the total cost of upkeeping these areas for all the users those permits would not be needed. However to do so would mean our license fees would have to be considerably higher.

In can remember that in the early 1960s (back in the days when fishing was good and we got value for our $$) when I bought my first fishing license (freshwater) it costed $5.50/year. At that time the minimum wage was $1.25. That meant as a youngster I had to worked for 5.2 hours at the minimum wage to earn enough to pay for my license. Today the minimum wage is $7.01 meaning that one working the same 5.2 hours would earn $36.45, or roughly 1.6 times more than the $21.90 the freshwater cost today.

In comparative $$ today's fees are cheaper than 40 years and still remains the cheapest recreational $$ that I spend. Many of the folks that I talk with expect that their license costs should remain constant or be reduced but at the same time expect that they recieve annual cost of living increases in their own incomes. You think that at least some of you could be consistent.

Regarding the Counties getting the money from fish and game violation fines. As I recall decades ago we (through our elected state legislature) gave the each of the Counties the option of collecting property taxes for Game department land or the fines from fish and game violations. I'm not certain (sure that CFM will correct me if I'm wrong) but WDFW is the only state agency that pays that property tax.

As long as the future of this State's fish and wildlife resources and the recreation they support are dependent the selfish and whinning attitudes expressed by some in this dicussion they are doomed!

Tight lines
Smalma