Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ethan Berkowitz has proposed offering residents the option of purchasing lifetime fishing, hunting and trapping licenses for a one-time fee of about 10 times the cost of current yearly fees.
For example, Berkowitz said, at a news conference today in Anchorage, fishing licenses that currently cost $24 annually would be priced at $240, hunting licenses, $250, and trapping licenses, $150.
Berkowitz said he realized that staff of the Alaska Division of Sport Fish and the Divisions of Wildlife Conservation might want to propose a different price structure, and that the Legislature would probably propose some price points of its own during debate on this proposal.
The plan comes on the heels of an earlier announcement from Berkowitz, a former Anchorage legislator, to "own a piece of the pipe," the proposed Alaska gas pipeline.
That plan would allow residents to choose to invest all or a portion of their annual Permanent Fund Dividend in a newly created state corporation- the Great Alaska Pipeline Co., or GAP, Inc., by checking off a box on their PFD application. All funds would be held in escrow at GAP, Inc., until a gas pipeline was fully funded and construction was moving forward, he said.
Both the lifetime license holders and investors in the pipeline would get colorful certificates recognizing their investment in the state, he said.
"The lifetime license recognizes that we as a people are closely connected to the land and waters of our state, and that our heritage and culture is bound to our fish and game," Berkowitz noted on his campaign website. "In that spirit, a permanent lifetime license makes it clear that our rights to hunt, fish and trap are a defining value and that our stake in these resources will be respected and protected."
According to state officials a total of 338,613 resident fishing, hunting and trapping and combination licenses were sold in 2009, he said. These included 6,359 permanent ID cards given to Alaskans 60 and older. These totals exclude the sales of resident King Stamps and other big game tags. Combined, the sales of these resident licenses (excluding stamps and tags) generated net revenue of $5.8 million, he said.
Total nonresident fishing, hunting and trapping (or combination) licenses sold in 2009 totaled 269,955, also excluding additional non-resident King Stamps and big game tags. Sales of these non-resident licenses generated net revenue of $11.89 million.
Berkowitz said his proposal is not likely to change those numbers dramatically unless an unusually large number of Alaskans who are lifetime licenses holders choose to leave the state and come back in the future.
"In that case, they will be bringing back with them tourist dollars, including friends and family who are all likely to buy a full price non-resident license of one form or another," he said. "In addition, they are likely to use the services of local guides, stay in local hotels, B&Bs or lodges, purchase airfare and generally spend money in the state."