It will cost more to hunt, fish and trap in Indiana starting this year
For the first time in more than 15 years, people who want to hunt, fish and trap in Indiana will have to pay more to do so in 2022.
At the end of last year, the state's Department of Natural Resources announced that it would increase hunting, fishing and trapping license fees for the first time since 2006. The agency will also hike fees for commercial licenses, many of those for the first time since the 1980s.
The combination hunting and fishing license will go up from $25 to $32. The individual fishing license will jump from $17 to $23 while the fees both hunting and trapping licenses are increasing from $17 to $20. Many commercial licenses are increasing by larger amounts.
These changes will go into effect for the 2022 season, which runs from April 1 through March 31, 2023 — those licenses go on sale on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
The DNR's Division of Fish and Wildlife and its Division of Law Enforcement rely on the sale of these licenses and permits for funding to manage wildlife resources and enforce fish and wildlife laws. The costs of that work, however, have continued to increase over the years.
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At the same time, the funding the agency receives has continued to go down. The IndyStar reported in 2019 that hunting and fishing have been on the decline.
It saw a nearly 22% drop in hunting licenses in the decade from 2006 to 2016, according to data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fishing licenses saw a drop of about 13% over the same period.
The state began working to reach out to groups not typically associated with hunting including women, youth, urban residents and college students. Still, that hasn't been enough.
That's why the Natural Resources Commission voted in its September meeting to increase the fees to address the funding shortfall and "ensure we can continue to protect Indiana's fish and wildlife resources for this and future generations."
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DNR says these increases will allow it to conduct fish and wildlife research, restore habitats, maintain public areas, educate new hunters and fishers, and provide assistance to landowners.
The fee increase does not affect licenses for the remainder of the 2021-2022 license year — which runs until March 31, 2022 — even if those licenses are purchased after Jan. 1.
A full list of new fees can be found here.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana hunting, fishing licenses will cost more in 2022
