Marine bill S-3638 Marine District down state

[lineman49]

Chech out Syracuse.com Outdoor Blog to see this bill info. (S-3638) It states that upstate (us) sportsmen, fishermen, trappers & hunters will have to flip the bill for down state marine districts due to this bill being voted down. We need to let our Reps. know we are against this & the monies for this should not be taken from the Traditional conservation fund or the General fund which we all pay for. This should be removed from the reconciliation of the opposing budget resolutions & make the marine districts pay their own way!

http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2011/ ... _fund.html

[Tim Bromund]

Guys,

the following is text of a letter that has been drafted to Gov Cuomo asking him to oppose the implementation of this. Please feel free to copy/paste this into your word processor (MS Word or whatever you use) and send your own letter to the Gov. encouraging him to oppose this:

Governor Andrew Cuomo

Executive Chamber

State Capitol

Albany, New York 12224

March 22, 2011

Dear Governor Cuomo,

We are writing to urge you to oppose a provision in the Senate Budget Bill, S. 2810 Part FF, that would repeal the current marine recreational angler license program. It would also create an unfunded mandate for New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation to provide – for free – a saltwater recreational fishing registry. We oppose the provision because it would deprive much-needed marine programs in the State of New York an existing revenue source, as well as make New York ineligible for federal funds under the Wallop-Breaux Sports Fish Restoration Act.

New York’s existing saltwater recreational angler registry was designed to meet new federal registry requirements in a manner that benefits New Yorkers. The state’s license costs anglers $10 annually and dedicates the bulk of the funding to the state’s marine account. It provides exemptions for anglers under sixteen, those who are legally blind, and active members of the Armed Forces. Anglers aboard a party or charter boat pay no fee; the companies are charged $400 annually to cover all of their customers.

During calendar year 2010, marine license sales generated $1.7 million in revenue to the Marine Resources Account. The revenue generated by this registration fee supports the cost of administering the registration program and the work of the DEC Marine Bureau, which is already underfunded and overstressed because of the state’s fiscal crisis. The Marine Bureau’s programs include: 1) fish surveys to assess the abundance of commercially and recreationally important fish population levels; 2) monitoring of commercial fish landings to provide data used for population assessments and fishery quota management; 3) protection of important marine habitats; and 4) monitoring the health of shellfish beds and the occurrence of and causes of harmful algal blooms.

If the fee is revoked and a free registry is established, an important revenue stream that helps support these Marine Bureau programs would be lost. In addition, programs would have to be eliminated or cut in order to pay for the “free†registry. Hunters and freshwater anglers have, for decades, paid a license fee into the state’s conservation fund to help manage and maintain inland habitats and species. They would likely see a reduction in their services as a result of this bill, as their fees may have to be used to register saltwater fishermen who would pay nothing.

Not only would a source of state revenues be lost in an incredibly tight budget year, but passage of this bill would also deprive the state of federal funds for which it otherwise would be eligible. If New York doesn’t charge for a license, it would lose its eligibility for federal sport fish restoration funds under the Wallop-Breaux Sports Fish Restoration Act. In order to qualify for these federal funds, the state is required to charge at least a $1 more per license than it costs the state to administer the license. A free registry would clearly not satisfy this requirement and the state would become ineligible for these much-needed federal funds which could amount to millions of dollars.

In order to properly manage New York’s valuable marine resources, the state needs to strengthen – not weaken – its marine programs. We ask you to oppose inclusion of the Senate provision in the New York State budget.

[Tim Bromund]

Forward from Sean Mahar at Audubon NY

Tim and Pat, What is needed right now is calls to New York State Senators and Assembly members urging them to oppose the repeal of the Saltwater fishing license for all the reasons stated in the letter. If you could send out an alert and urge your members to make calls today, that would be really helpful!!!!

You can send this info to help your members identify their senator or Assembly member, and those phone numbers will connect them to their reps offices in Albany .

Find your Assembly Member: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

Assembly Switchboard: 518-455-4100

Find your Senator: http://www.nysenate.gov/senators

Senate Switchboard: 518-455-2800

Thanks for the help!!!!!

Sean

Sean Mahar

Director of Government Relations and Communications

Audubon New York

200 Trillium Lane

Albany, NY 12203

518-869-9731

518-869-0737 (Fax)

518-253-7000 (Cell)

[email protected]

[lineman49]

I have know this is a fishing site but some here might have interest in these new gun/hunting bills. The good ideas are S-2486 & S-177A. The bad one is S-2486 if passed you would have to register your gun to buy ammo. for it!! S-2486 would extend coyote hunting into May. S-177A would lower the archery age to 12yrs.old down from 14yrs. old. Time to let your state reps. know your feelings on these bills !! Asap.