$20 Permit to Hike in State Forests?

“Read this in the Harrisburg Patriot today. If you don't want to read the whole article, skip down to the last paragraph. Sounds kinda bogus to me.
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Plans to increase hunting license fees to help fund the financially strapped state Game Commission are drawing fire from some hunters.
State Rep. Bruce Smith, R-Dillsburg, introduced two bills yesterday that would raise the price of a basic adult hunting license from $19 to either $29 or $34. The amount hinges on which bill he brings up for a vote in the House Game and Fisheries Committee, which he chairs.
"The $34 is in case it takes a long time for this to occur and the financial condition of the Pennsylvania Game Commission deteriorates even further," said Smith, one of two House members sponsoring the legislation. The last license fee increase granted to the Game Commission came in 1999 after four years of debate. Smith's proposed increase would take effect July 1, 2007.
Smith conceded that the prospect for either bill's passage is uncertain in an election year. He is retiring from the Legislature at the end of this session.
Rep. Edward G. Staback, the ranking Democrat on Smith's committee, said he would have a hard time supporting a license increase, given that hunters in his district frequently complain that the commission's deer-management policy has excessively thinned the herd.
"How am I going to vote for a hunting license increase and try to justify it? It isn't going to work. You've got to start paying some attention to what the hunting public [is] trying to tell you," said Staback, D-Lackawanna County.
Randy Koppenhaver, a deer hunter from Camp Hill, agreed: "No way, not until the Game Commission does something to bring back the deer. When you hunt all day and don't see even one deer, we're already paying too much."
The 2005-06 season brought the lowest harvest of antlered deer and the fourth-lowest harvest of all deer since 1986-87, according to the Game Commission. The agency acknowledged lower deer densities than in the past, but it also blamed the weather, fewer hunters in the woods and fewer doe licenses allocated by the commission.
Smith's bills also include a $10 stamp for pheasant hunters and a $5 stamp for turkey hunters.
Dennis Hoover of Lykens said he isn't happy about an overall fee increase and particularly dislikes the idea of having to buy stamps to hunt pheasant and turkey.
"I think when you buy a hunting license, you should be able to hunt all small game without paying for additional stamps," he said.
Three sportmen's organizations joined Smith in support of the bills yesterday.
Ted Onufrak, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Club, said the fee increase is needed to allow the Game Commission "to remain fiscally sound and independent." He said he was disappointed that more legislators who hunt are not supporting Smith.
Other organizations joining Smith were United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Brian Magee of Shuman's Gun Shop in Newville, Cumberland County, said: "I don't really have a problem with it. If you think about it, if you're just a whitetail hunter, $30 is not unreasonable for in-state."
The Game Commission is trying to cope with a tightening budget by reducing the number of pheasants raised for stocking from 200,000 to 100,000 annually, cutting employee overtime and discontinuing toll-free phone numbers at its regional offices. In addition, the commission has not filled 66 of its 732 salaried positions, including 15 wildlife conservation officers.
The state sold more than 1 million licenses during the 2004-05 fiscal year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. MARCUS SCHNECK: (610) 562-1884 or mschneck@comcast.net
ALL USERS PAY?
Along with his proposals to increase hunting license fees, state Rep. Bruce Smith yesterday introduced legislation that would require people who use state gamelands to purchase a $20 conservation stamp. The stamp would apply to hunters and non-hunters, such as hikers and bird-watchers.”