Great Lakes Bass Fishing Forum

Watch Governor Snyder Live sign new MDNR license legislation (http://www.greatlakesbass.com/conservation/index.php/2013/09/16/watch-governor-snyder-sign-mdnr-legislat)

Invitation To Watch Live: Governor Snyder To Sign Legislation Enhancing Michigan's Natural Resources

Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 17th) at 3:30 PM EST: Watch LIVE (http://www.michigan.gov/snyderlive) as Governor Rick Snyder signs legislation enhancing Michigan's natural resources. The legislation authorizes important changes to Michigan's hunting and fishing license structure, simplifying the license options for outdoor enthusiasts – reducing the number of license types by more than 80 percent – and providing vital additional revenue for wildlife and fisheries habitat, conservation and outreach work.

Read more details about the process, the new fees and related important new programs on GreatLakesBass.com Conservation and Legislation News (http://www.greatlakesbass.com/conservation/index.php/2013/09/16/watch-governor-snyder-sign-mdnr-legislat).

I think this will be my first attendance at the actual signing of a Michigan law by a Governor. Don't recall doing that before. I will be in attendance with probably 50+ other persons from the MUCC, other statewide groups who worked very hard on this legislation, the MDNR who get additional needed and stable funding, and Michigan government.

I'm officially representing Michigan B.A.S.S. Nation at the signing. (I even have to wear a suit, and probably a serious tie. :)) I will be in there somewhere but not one of the primary groups who will have a few words to say.

I really have to say hats off to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (http://www.mucc.org/) and their Conservation Coalition for doing an amazing job this year with outdoor legislation and work! They have been very nice to us bass anglers already this year helping us out and including our opinions in the processes. I hope to be able to share more good news over this fall and winter that they will most definitely have played a significant part in!

The new $1.00 surcharge on certain licenses for hunting and angling education, marketing and public outreach is an exciting new program I'm looking forward to. Make sure you read the Conservation news article and watch the video from Colorado's Wildlife Council.

There's a link included in the Conservation news section article referred to above in the top post to get the latest listing of the ~39 hunting and fishing fees that will take effect March 1, 2014.

I want to say thanks to some of you who took the time to make your voices heard. Everyone who did anything played a part in getting this through all the amendments, changes, starts and stops to its final form.

There are some good and important things in this new and somewhat less complicated format. Not everyone will be completely happy but enough people could work with this final form to get it passed.

I also want to make sure that everyone who shared their opinions with me knows they had their common opinions shared with higher ups in the MDNR, NRC, MUCC and Michigan government. I even had several opportunities to discuss the dissatisfaction I was hearing from some nonresident anglers asking why their new fishing license fee went up seemingly more than some others. You were not the only group unhappy with proposed changes. Some fees were adjusted however that one was not. I was not at the Capitol enough like some of the bigger groups to know all the various discussions but I do know that your concerns were brought up by me to the highest levels, and they noted and discussed them.

Beyond enough of you calling in or writing to Michigan government, there wasn't much more I could do than ask and make sure it was a known, discussed issue. I did that on a couple occasions.

I've been really happy with the response so far from MUCC and other members of the Conservation Coalition, along with some of the interactions so far with many within the MDNR. There's a ton of work to do yet and I wish I had a lot more time to do it. I will continue to share as much as I can with you, and sometimes ask for your help too. I'm confident anglers and bass anglers are an important part of pretty much everything to do with our natural resources, and the effort some groups are making to make sure we are included shows others do too. That's the good news. Hopefully, more to come.