The Fee Fiasco

The solution? Well, they’ll simply use the $10 million that they “discovered” in the Game and Fish Protection Fund.

On Dec. 11, DNR Director Rebecca Humphries confirmed to state legislators that the DNR would have a $10 million fund balance in the Fish and Game Protection Fund.

In October of 2007, the Director reported that the fund would have a $7.8 million fund balance which would leave the DNR’s budget for 2008 about $2.5 million short. Soon after, the Department rolled out a series of proposed cuts that included the closure of fish hatcheries, research stations and waterfowl areas if a license fee increase wasn’t passed to cover the shortage.

Rather than see our state lose valuable services, MUCC and the coalition fought valiantly to see a license fee increase implemented and prevent those cuts from happening. It was a fight that, apparently, didn’t need to be fought just yet.

Michigan United Conservation Clubs took a stand for the DNR and the outdoors we all love so dearly. We encouraged our members to support a license fee increase despite the fact that it wasn’t always a popular position. In fact, at times it was a downright unpopular position and certainly created some ill will.

MUCC, along with our dedicated coalition partners, took this position because we felt it was the right thing to do and, according to the information that we were provided by the DNR, was the only viable option to prevent devastating cuts in DNR staff and programs – cuts that would directly impact hunters, anglers and those that love the outdoors.

The facts are now clear that the entire picture wasn’t being presented. In a few short months, the Department went from projecting a $10.8 million deficit in the Fish and Game Protection Fund to a $10 million fund balance. That’s a swing of more than $20 million.

In situations such as this, anyone would be compelled to point the finger and lay blame. But that’s simply not productive and it’s not how MUCC – or any credible leader or organization -- operates. Instead, we must learn from this experience and apply those lessons in the future.

In fact, we are doing exactly that.

At the request of MUCC Executive Director Dennis Muchmore, we will be having an independent audit and evaluation of revenues and expenditures of the Fish and Game Protection Fund performed. It’s clear that we simply can not properly represent our members without first clarifying exactly how much money the Fish and Game Fund has and how it’s spent. It’s also clear that those numbers must be verified from an independent source. Should these steps have been taken in the first place? Well, given the current situation the answer to that is easy: Of course they should have. But there’s a reason that old saying about hindsight is so popular.

Standing up for what you believe to be right is never easy and it’s almost never the “safest” option. There’s little risk in standing on the sidelines. MUCC has never been content to do so and you, our members, wouldn’t want us to be. Taking a position and defending that position involves no shortage of risk. Sometimes you get burned.

MUCC will continue to fight for the rights of hunters and anglers in Michigan. We will continue to be a watchdog over natural resource and conservation issues.

While the DNR’s budget issue is resolved for this year, there almost certainly will be a budget shortage in the near future. Conservation is still underfunded in our state and there are tremendous problems on the horizon that must be addressed. The DNR will, undoubtedly, be looking to members of the outdoors community to help solve the funding issues of the future.

MUCC will be there to represent the interests of hunters and anglers when that happens. And, next time, we’re going to make certain that all the facts are being presented to all involved.