Colorado Parks and Wildlife is on track to raise hunting and fishing fees — and the price of park passes — after all 35 state senators on Tuesday approved legislation scripted to avert a looming financial crisis for the division.
“Unanimous approval. Can’t do much better than that,” said Sen. Don Coram, a Montrose Republican who sponsored the bill that would allow Colorado Parks and Wildlife to raise fees to support conservation programs and chip away at a $45 million maintenance backlog on 11 dams owned by the division.
The division tried similar legislation last year in the House, but the proposal foundered in a Senate committee.
“Think the original bill last year started out with pretty drastic increases and I think we took the opportunity this year to adjust that and say, yes, we need some increases but we will keep them moderate,” Coram said. “I think we did a better job of selling what we were doing.”
Parks and Wildlife last raised fees in 2005 and costs have soared since then. The division counts on hunting and fishing licenses for 60 percent of its roughly $150 million annual wildlife budget, none of which comes from the state’s taxpayer-filled general fund. While the cost of dam maintenance, fish food at 19 hatcheries, water leases and wildlife management have climbed and pressures on land and wildlife have grown with the increased population, the revenue the division takes in has remained stagnant. Since 2009, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has slashed $40 million from its budget and cut 50 jobs. The agency estimates a $22 million funding shortfall by 2023. By 2025, Colorado Parks and Wildlife forecasts a budget shortfall of $30 million a year for wildlife and $11 million a year for parks.
Without an increase in license fees the division has warned of fewer leases for hunting and fishing, fewer licenses issued and more hatcheries shut down.
The bill currently heading to the Democrat-controlled House allows Parks and Wildlife to raise resident fees for licenses. It sets a yearly cap on increases to daily park passes at $1 and annual park passes at $10. Resident annual fishing licenses would go to $33 from $25 and out-of-staters would pay $95, up from $55. A senior fishing license would increase to $8 from free.
The cost of an elk tag climbs to $53 from $45.
Critically, all license prices would be tied to the Consumer Price Index, allowing for annual, incremental increases instead of changes through once-a-decade legislation.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Lauren Truitt called this year’s bill “much cleaner and streamlined” compared to last year’s legislation. This bill highlights the needs — like aging dams that can pose a threat to public safety — and protects critical programs like “Fishing is Fun,” public land access and trail maintenance.
The bill highlights 10 goals behind the fee increases, including growing the number of hunters and anglers in Colorado, recruiting and retaining employees, investing in access programs on public and private land and improving big game and fish populations with investments in hatcheries, habitat and conservation. The agency by 2025 also wants to cut in half the $45 million in needed repairs to agency-owned dams, as well as a $26 million capital development and maintenance backlog.
While this year’s bill does not specifically outline a plan to enlist financial support from outdoor users beyond hunters and anglers, the legislation’s goals include a push to engage “all outdoor recreationists, including hikers, bikers, climbers and wildlife watchers” in helping to fund maintenance of state lands and wildlife management.
The most conservation efforts in Colorado are funded by hunting and fishing license fees, said Rep. Jim Wilson, a Salida Republican sponsoring the bill in the House.
“We want to make sure and emphasize that. We want to help people become more aware of where the substance of their outdoor experience is coming from and part of that is education,” Wilson said. “We are finding that people who use the outdoors by and large don’t mind helping out.”
Truitt said the agency will soon begin an intensive survey of Colorado’s outdoor users as part of an outreach effort to include more outdoor users in discussions on how to protect and preserve Colorado’s wildlands and wildlife.
“We really want to know the pulse out there. As an agency it’s critical for us to talk to all Coloradans. What do they see as good opportunities and good options for managing the state’s resources into the future,” she said.
Wilson thinks the House will approve the fee increases. The bill should be heard in a House committee within a week.
“We are pretty optimistic. I don’t think we are going to mess with it in the House. I think it’s in pretty good shape as it is,” he said. “We are looking forward to getting these issues through the House and hopefully get Colorado Parks and Wildlife back on its feet.”
