DNR revenue options include raising hunting, fishing fees

MADISON — The state Department of Natural Resources is proposing raising hunting and fishing fees or linking the fees to inflation as options for generating more revenue for wildlife management.

The current state budget mandated the DNR report on dwindling revenue in the agency's Fish and Wildlife Account. The account funds wildlife management efforts and DNR wardens. It's built mostly with hunter and angler fees.

The DNR released the report Tuesday. It found an annual $4 million gap between the account's authorized expenditures and revenue.

The report includes a number of ideas for closing the gap, including a one-time increase in license fees, linking license fee increases to inflation, creating a registration fee for non-motorized watercraft such as canoes and kayaks and never increasing fees for people who buy licenses every year.