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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2006 No new fish and wildlife fees through ’09 After that, however, fee increases are fair game, and officials are touring the stste to get input from locals in town hall meetings By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife managers expect to continue their programs and services without any new fees through 2009, but the agency likely would either need to boost revenues or cut programs after that. ODFW leaders are in the midst of crafting their next two-year, $237.1 million budget proposal that leans most heavily on keeping biologists and others in the field, as well as funding hatchery operations, landowner services, and fish and wildlife enforcement. Those priorities were crafted with public input in 2003 and ODFW interim director Roy Elicker said his agency is now shaping its next budget request in the same fashion. "We are, at this point, staying the course with those same priorities and rolling them over into the ’07-’09" proposed budget, said Roy Elicker, the ODFW’s interim director. When receiving an increase in hunting and angling fees in 2003, ODFW managers told legislators they would not plan on seeking any fee increases until 2009. Advertisement "I think where the rubber is really going to meet the road is ’09-’11," Elicker said. "I don’t know if sportsmen will accept more fee increases or whether it will tee up the broad discussion" on who benefits from ODFW services and who pays for them. Elicker and other agency managers are touring Oregon this week to speak with the public during a series of 10 town hall meetings. They include a meeting Tuesday in Central Point and Thursday in Gold Beach. The Tuesday meeting is at the ODFW’s conference room at the Denman Wildlife Area, 1495 E. Gregory Road. The Gold Beach meeting is at the Gold Beach City Hall, 29592 Ellensburg Ave., Gold Beach. The meetings run from 7 to 9 p.m. The ODFW has done similar meetings before each of its past two budget requests. During the public meetings, ODFW managers will outline agency programs and its base budget, then gather public comments that will be used to refine the base budget proposal. The agency’s proposed budget will go before the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at its July 7 meeting in Salem. If adopted by the commission, it will be submitted to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for consideration. Kulongoski will submit his budget request in 2007 to the Oregon Legislature, which ultimately determines state agency budgets. Chuck Smith of Medford, who has helped the ODFW shape its past six budgets, said he never imagined in 2003 that the agency could operate six straight years with the same basic programs and no new revenues — especially when considering inflation. "I thought it would be good to make it four years at the most," Smith said. "So we got another two years out of it, and I think that’s because they’ve managed their money well." The current ’05-’07 budget for the agency and its roughly 1,380 employees is $234 million. Exactly who should fund ODFW programs has long been a topic of public discussion amid the continued interest among some Oregonians interested in seeing those who get services from state agencies also be the ones who pay. Natural-resource agencies like the ODFW represent only a small sliver of the state’s general-fund money. Their budgets are generated primarily from fees and federal money, which traditionally isn’t targeted by cost-cutting lawmakers. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail No new fish and wildlife fees through �09 ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Email Security Advertisement s Advertisement