A resident lifetime fishing license, a lifetime fishing trust fund, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

Under the bill, a resident lifetime fishing license confers the privilege of an annual fishing license. The holder of a resident lifetime fishing license must still purchase a fishing stamp if the type of fishing in which he or she will be engaged requires such a stamp. The bill establishes the fee for a resident lifetime fishing license at 30 times the fee for a resident annual fishing license, which under current law is $19.25 plus a 75-cent issuing fee. Thus, at the current rate, a resident lifetime fishing license fee under the bill is $577.50, plus a 75-cent issuing fee.

Under current law, all proceeds from hunting and fishing license fees are deposited in the conservation fund and appropriated to DNR for various purposes relating to fish and wildlife management. This bill creates a lifetime fishing trust fund and provides that all fees from the sale of resident lifetime fishing licenses are deposited in that trust fund. The bill provides that, each fiscal year, all interest that has accrued in the lifetime fishing trust fund and a prorated amount of the money from each resident lifetime fishing license fee must be transferred from the lifetime fishing trust fund to the conservation fund. The bill allows DNR to adopt rules establishing a system for prorating resident lifetime fishing license fees for the purposes of this transfer. The bill requires that the system for prorating these fees must comply with the federal rules governing how lifetime licenses may be counted for purposes of this state qualifying for funding under the federal Dingell-Johnson Act.