More funding options.

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Wildlife watchers have been getting a free ride - WyoFile

Wyoming taps hunters, anglers and other users to generate revenues for wildlife conservation. It’s time to include wildlife watchers too, Wellington opines.

wyofile.com

 

[fmnjr]

Since I intensely dislike additional levies of any sort, I want to hate this, but I actually agree with the guy. What you care about, you should pay for. The way things are going nowadays, wildlife/places need all the help possible, too.

 

[Big Fin]

I like it. He might check his email to make sure he isn't blackballed from the Outdoor Retailer show for spewing such blasphemy. REI, Black Diamond, and other big players in the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group that was formed for the sole purpose of defeating any taxes on backcountry gear or any responsibility for that industry to shoulder the impacts their customer have on wild places and wild things.

 

[Ben Lamb]

What politicians giveth, politicians taketh away.

Governor Short-Changes Public Access Promise - Flathead Beacon

On Nov.4, Gov. Greg Gianforte said he was committed to improving access to public lands at an event in Missoula. Then, a few weeks later, he proposed to permanently slash taxpayer funding to Montana’s premier public access program – Habitat Montana. Gianforte’s budget proposal, released in...

flatheadbeacon.com

A federal backpack tax would be awesome, as would RAWA, which would boost state agency revenue significantly. RAWA is close to passing, but it won't in the new congress.

Any revenue source has to be insulated from politicians looking to reallocate what the voters and such have decided. That's why the provision on PR/DJ for diversion issues is so strong. WGFD's budget process is the best in the nation that I've seen: The legislature has zero control over the license dollars, or PR/DJ funding. The commission approves the budget and it's usually an open process.