Members of the Iowa House have overwhelmingly voted for a bill that ultimately will increase the license fees for people who wish to legally hunt, fish and trap in Iowa. Republican Representative Terry Baxter of Garner is one of the 86 House members who voted yes. “It’s exciting to see this bill come forward. I’ve got to say some of my redneck hunting buddies are a little bit opposed to this, but every sportsmans’ group in Iowa has written me and they stand with this bill,” Baxter said. “It’s time to get some of these resources going. It’s been a long time since we had a fee increase.”

The bill gives officials in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources the authority to raise licensing fees for fishing, hunting and trapping. A yearly fishing license, for example, is currently 17 dollars and is expected to be hiked to 25 dollars. The money from hunting, fishing and trapping licenses is used for department efforts to improve habitat and other conservation efforts that boost hunting opportunities.

Representative John Wills, a Republican from Spirit Lake, says the bill will be a boost to the state’s 800-million dollar hunting, fishing and outdoors industries. “I’ve gotten literally hundreds of emails, hundreds of postcards, hundreds of people asking me to raise these fees,” Wills says.

Only six members of the House opposed the move. Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville who voted FOR the bill, needled House Republicans who’ve taken a “no new taxes or fees” pledge. “We’ve underfunded the DNR to such an extent that they need some income to keep our waters ready for fishing, our fields ready for hunting,” Jacoby says. The bill now goes to the Iowa Senate for consideration.

(Radio Iowa)