>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Jack Eckrich, left, and Mike Morehead, both of La Grande, are among those who spoke at Wednesday’s Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife town hall meeting in Island City. - The Observer/DICK MASON

The price of Oregon’s hunting and fishing tags and licenses has not gone up for four years and will remain stable another two years.

Now the not so good news.

The price of hunting and fishing tags and licenses is set to jump, if not in 2010 then in 2013.

ODFW Director Roy Elicker told hunters and anglers Wednesday at a town hall meeting that an increase in 2010 rather than 2012 would be in their best interest. He said hunters and anglers may face dire consequences unless one of a proposed package of license and fee increases ranging from 18 to 25 percent is put in place in July 2010.

How dire would be the consequences of no increase in 2010?

Elicker and other ODFW officials explained that if the proposed tag and license fee increase is not put into effect, a boost of 35 percent would be needed in 2012 if the ODFW is to maintain its same level of service.

The 35 percent increase would be needed in part to make up for the money lost by not raising the cost of licenses and fees in 2010.

“We could go another biennium without a fee increase, but that would mean in 2013 we would need a 35 percent increase. It would be best to have a fee increase now rather than wait for a fiscal crisis ... We would like to avoid a crisis situation,’’ said Laurie Byerley, the ODFW’s deputy director for administration.

Elicker and Byerley reviewed the ODFW’s budget situation Wednesday before an audience of about 40 at Island City City Hall. They are on a tour of the state taking input on the ODFW’s proposed license and tag fee increases.

Should the ODFW propose an increase, it would submit the request to Gov. Ted Kulongoski in the fall. Kulongoski would then have the option of including the proposed increase in the 2009-11 budget request he will submit to the Legislature in January.

The fee hikes will be needed primarily because of inflation. Another factor not helping the ODFW’s budget situation is a declining number of people who hunt and fish in Oregon. A main reason for this is that the number of young people who hunt and fish is declining, a national trend, Elicker said.

He noted, though, that the ODFW is taking a number of steps to get more young people interested in hunting and fishing. For example, last year it put a youth mentor program in place. The program makes it much easier for young people to get first-time hunting experiences with adults. At least 1,600 youths participated in the program in 2007, a higher than expected number.

Several hunters said Wednesday, though, that the ODFW’s efforts to get more young people involved in hunting may be undermined by fee increases. One man warned that adults are less likely to take their sons and daughters hunting and fishing if fees continue going up.

STICKER SHOCK? Roy Elicker, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, speaks about his agency’s budget Wednesday in Island City. He is among ODFW officials on a tour of the state explaining the need for fee increases soon. - The Observer/DICK MASON

“By that time he may have lost interest,’’ Eckrich said.

Eckrich also said he is wary of rising license and tag fees, as is Ryan Hays of Elgin. Hays warned that hunting costs are already so high that the expense of even successful big game hunts is prohibitive.

“It is cheaper to buy a half a beef,’’ Hays said.

In addition to expenses, a number of hunters expressed frustration about things such as cougars. Oregon’s mountain lion population has increased since 1994 when the state’s voters approved an initiative prohibiting the use of dogs when hunting cougars.

Studies indicate that a growing cougar population is hurting elk populations.

Elicker said he has asked the Legislature at each session to reduce cougar hunting restrictions but to no avail. A number of hunters lamented that people on the west side of the state do not appreciate the problems cougars pose because they don’t have to deal with them.

“They should trap some cougars and release them in downtown Portland,’’ one man said Wednesday.

Wednesday’s town hall is one of about a dozen Elicker and his staff will be speaking at throughout the state this spring. Elicker noted that most of the people he sees at the meetings are in the 40s, 50s and 60s age range. They are the same age of people he has been seeing at ODFW town halls for years. He laments that he is now asking for their help again.

“You have faithfully supported us. I hate to ask you again (to support a fee jump). I don’t feel good about it. I don’t like having to come back and ask you for a fee increase.’’