This is the first raise in license fees in over ten yeas according to our local Ohio Department of Wildlife Officer that gave the report at my gun club last night. The fee raise is a reasanable one. If you do a little digging you will see the number of hunters is down and the department is in jeopardy of losing $1 million dollars in funding from the general fund. The department has already cut back 10% across the board. They are now going to have to rent a truck to take their tractors back and forth to maintain the parks. They lost the only truck in their fleet that is powerful enough to pull their tractors to each park. The employee count went from over 500 to 400 in the past few years. Personally, I support this license hike even though I am unemployed. I would rather donate the extra $4.00 to the Department than spend it on a burger of a box of shells in order to do my part in helping Ohio help it' s hunters and fishermen. I mean really, what is an extra $4.00 for the license and another $5.00 for a deer or turkey tag. All that means is that you skip McDonald' s or Burger King once or twice a year.

Another thing to remember is that every license dollar goes right back into the Department' s budget, not the state' s general fund. Try looking at other states and then complain about how bad it is here in OH.

This is such a small price to pay to pay to guarantee that our kids have the natural resources to hunt and fish in the future. I, for one, want my kids (when I have them) to enjoy the outdoors, and more importantly have a place to enjoy them!