I'd pay twice what I do now for licenses. Tired of hearing people whine about license costs. Compare them to Mariners tickets. I spend more on a single night out on the town. What I get for my license money, the time I spend chasing things in the outdoors, is so precious to me I'd pay way more.

Fish and Wildlife needs help winning money from Legislature
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Times are tough for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The cash-strapped 2003 Legislature cut $9.1 million from the agency’s 2003-05 budget, and the federal government cut an additional $7.4 million.
From 1999 to 2001, Fish and Wildlife’s budget was $302.8 million. In 2003-05, the budget is $277.8 million, even as state and federal protection requirements for endangered species increase.
The cuts could reduce or end fishing seasons on some waters. They already have reduced the number of enforcement officers, habitat biologists and other employees in game protection and salmon recovery programs.
When will anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers see a difference?
“Right about now,” said Jeff Koenings, agency director. “We’ll need to ask for supplemental funding to pay for selective fisheries next year, such as the Lake Washington sockeye fishery.”
The future of fishing, hunting and other outdoor recreation in Washington could be bright if the state makes a modest investment, said Koenings, who feels it’s time the Legislature realized these activities bring in big money.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service figures back Koenings’ claim. According to the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, sport anglers spent $854 million in Washington that year, hunters spent $350 million and wildlife watchers spent $980 million.
These people – and their money – will go elsewhere if the state falls down on its job, Koenings said. A big chunk of Fish and Wildlife’s budget – $57.1 million of the $277.8 million current budget – comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and fees.
A record return of 600,000 sockeye is expected in Lake Washington next summer, but the state can’t allow fishing until there is a plan that ensures enough wild fish are left to spawn and that state tribes get their 50 percent of the harvest.
It will cost the state $200,000 to meet federal planning and monitoring standards for a Lake Washington season – a bargain, as the season will generate $12 million in angler spending, said Lew Atkins, assistant director for fish programs.
But the agency has no money for the studies, and state and federal laws forbid a sports fishery without them.
Koenings will ask Gov. Gary Locke and the Legislature for an additional $738,000 for the Lake Washington fishery, and more money for other fisheries that bring in an estimated $28 million.
Getting that $738,000 is “not impossible, but it’s going to be hard,” said Marty Brown, Locke’s budget director.
The Lake Washington fishery offers an economic boost and terrific recreation, said Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, chairman of the House Fisheries, Ecology and Parks Committee. But others will have different plans for the state’s limited cash.
“We have to sell this to the rest of the Legislature,” Cooper said.
It’s time for anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers to step up and pressure the Legislature, said Jim Anderson, executive director of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
Fish and Wildlife spends millions to mark hatchery fish, monitor salmon populations and enforce catch-and-release rules – the only way to protect wild fish and offer ocean fishing, Atkins said.
“Selective fisheries have brought in millions to the state of Washington,” Atkins said. “And much of that money helps the rural communities that really need help.”
The tribes worry that state cuts could damage the surveys used to set salmon-fishing limits, Anderson said. An inaccurate catch count can wreak havoc on an endangered run.
The tribes, the state’s salmon partner, “are going to look out for tribal fishermen and tribal resources” with their limited funds, he said.
Tribes see Fish and Wildlife’s budget struggles on a daily basis, said David Troutt, natural resources director for the Nisqually tribe.
“The agency really doesn’t have the resources to contribute to salmon recovery on the Nisqually, Puyallup and Green rivers in the way we would like – and that they would like as well,” Troutt said.
All Fish and Wildlife programs have taken cuts over the past two years.
Seven hatcheries have closed or reduced operations. The number of hatchery managers has dropped from 24 to 16. Fewer biologists have less time to work on habitat projects vital to wild salmon recovery.
Cuts also make things easier for poachers. Fish and Wildlife will have 158 enforcement officers during 2003-05, a drop of eight from two years ago. In 1980, there was one Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer per 23,000 state residents. This year, there is one officer per 40,000.
“I have 10 positions I can’t fill in 2003-2005 due to budget reductions,” said enforcement chief Bruce Bjork.
Fish and Wildlife now depends on a corps of citizen volunteers, called Eyes in The Woods, who help Fish and Wildlife biologists check deer tags and take scientific samples.
“For those of us who like to hunt and fish, this is a way to help give back to the system,” said volunteer Bill Byunkey of Tacoma. “We can’t bellyache if we sit around and do nothing.”
AP-WS-11-09-03 1551EST!