GF&P to endorse fee hikes for parks and non-resident hunters

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PIERRE — Prices for entrance licenses and some group lodging fees could be going up at South Dakota’s state parks and recreation areas for 2013.

Non-resident hunters also could be asked to pay more next year for state permits to pursue waterfowl and upland game including pheasants.

Those changes are set for formal recommendation later this week during a two-day meeting of the state Game, Fish and Parks Commission in Deadwood.

If the commission chooses to pursue them, a public hearing will be scheduled for the afternoon of Nov. 1 during the commission’s meeting in Madison.

State Wildlife Division Director Tony Leif and state Parks Division Director Doug Hofer raised the general topic of fee increases during presentations to the commission at the August meeting in Milbank.

Now their formal recommendations are ready.

Park entrance licenses would go up to $30 from the present $28 for the first vehicle. Licenses for additional vehicles would increase to $15 from the current $14. The transferrable license would rise to $65 from $60 now.

Those changes would generate about $157,000 of additional revenue, while costs are expected to increase by about $100,000 for electricity and about $244,000 for hourly wage increases to seasonal employees, according to Hofer.

The special-event charge for the annual Fort Sisseton Festival also would increase to $5 from $4, and prices for group lodging would increase by various amounts at Mina, Shadehill, Lake Thompson, Newton Hills and Palisades.

The proposal to increase prices for non-resident hunting licenses would generate an estimated additional $1,061,250, according to Leif.

The 10-day license for non-residents to hunt small game including pheasants would rise to $120 from the present $110, while the annual shooting preserve license would become $95 from the current $85.

The five-day preserve license would increase to $70 from $65, while the one-day preserve license would go up to $40 from $35.

Non-resident licenses for waterfowl would increase to $120 from $110, while the three-day waterfowl permit would go to $85 from $75.

Tags: game fish and parks, outdoors, news, updates, state, hunting, fees, parks