By Morgan Chilson, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas migratory bird hunters will pay more to hunt under a proposed bill, but hunting organizations supported the need to increase fees.
House Bill 2507 would raise the cap for migratory fowl stamp fees from $8 to $25 for Kansas residents and to $100 for nonresidents. The House Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony on the bill Wednesday.
However, because regulations restrict how much the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks can raise rates at one time, hunters wouldn’t see a large fee jump to $25, testified Kurtis Wiard, the agency’s chief counsel.
The Kansas Outdoor Heritage Alliance was a proponent of the bill, listing seven members in support that included the Delta Waterfowl, Kansas Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and the Kansas Bowhunters Association.
“HB 2507 makes great financial sense for the state of Kansas,” said Kurt Ratzlaff, who submitted written testimony on behalf of the organization. He said raising stamp fees was necessary to “adequately fund” KDWP.
“The current $8 annual waterfowl stamp is woefully out of date when compared to our neighboring states,” Ratzlaff said. “The increase proposed in this bill will not significantly impact the number of hunters who pursue waterfowl, as it falls well within the norms of other states.”
The waterfowl fees haven’t increased in 25 years, Wiard testified.
“I think it’s important because we see an ever-increasing number of nonresident waterfowl hunters coming into the state competing with a very limited resource,” he said. “The agency is not well equipped to address this issue with an $8 stamp.”
The additional dollars would allow the agency to leverage more federal funds to improve the wetlands in the state and to address the increased number of hunters, Wiard said.
The committee also heard testimony on House Bill 2505, which would allow the KDWP to avoid revealing addresses of landowners who have protected wildlife species on their land. Currently, those addresses are available for request through the Kansas Open Records Act, Wiard testified.
“The impetus for this bill is if we routinely collect critical information about protected species, threatened and endangered on both state and federal lists, and what we found is that they are most often found on private property,” he said. “In order for us to gain access to search for these species, we rely on the good graces of private property owners to allow us on their property.”
Wiard said the agency is concerned sharing site-specific information on where the endangered species are located might open landowners to people who trespass to view the wildlife or even to people who might harm the property or wildlife.
Kansas Farm Bureau and the Kansas Livestock Association submitted written testimony opposing the bill unless language is inserted to allow property owners to access information about endangered species located on their property. Wiard said the agency did not oppose changing language in the bill to meet that request.
