Fees to use state lands will more than triple

For recreationists planning to visit state lands, it's going to cost a lot more money. Unless they're hunting and fishing.

The Land Department has sharply increased what it charges people who want to go hiking, ride horses, picnic, watch birds, take pictures or camp on any of the 8 million acres of state trust lands that are open to the public. An individual permit, good for one year - which used to cost $15 - now will cost $50; family permits have risen from $20 to $75 annually.

There is, however, a notable exception: If you are "actively hunting or fishing" on state lands, there is no fee. Instead, all that is needed is the proper state license: $32.25 for hunting and $23.50 for fishing.

State Game and Fish Department spokesman Rory Aikens said the requirement to hunt or fish to escape paying the new recreation fees means more than carrying around a gun or fishing pole. He said it requires at least firing the gun from time to time. But Aikens said there's no actual requirement that hunters actually hit something - or even try to - to be considered a "hunter."

Jamie Hogue, the state's deputy land commissioner, said her agency had been studying possible changes to the fees, which had not been altered since the 1980s. She said there were plans to update the charges to better reflect her agency's costs. What happened in the interim, she said, was that the Legislature, looking for ways to balance the state budget, slashed more than $3.1 million from the Land Department. Lawmakers then directed the agency to offset $600,000 of that with higher fees.

Some of that burden was passed along to others, like ranchers who pay to lease state land for grazing. But Hogue said the fees for recreational use needed to go up, too.

SURPRISED BY ACTION

The move, which took effect Aug. 1, caught some people by surprise. Dan Southard, who lives near the Ironwood National Monument, said he has bought a permit for several years to access the state land within and around the site west and northwest of Marana. He was informed of the higher fees when he called this year about a new permit.

Southard said he is in poor health and living on a limited income, and cannot afford the higher cost. He could simply choose to ignore it, saying there are those who go out on state lands who are unaware of the requirement for a permit. But Southard said he wouldn't do that, because "it would be embarrassing to get caught without one."

It also could be expensive: The penalties for being on state trust lands without a recreational permit start at $300.

Hogue acknowledged that the new fee structure does, in fact, make it cheaper to hunt on state land than it does to simply take a hike. But she said it made no sense to make those who already have bought a license from the state Game and Fish Department to purchase a separate permit to use state lands.

Anyway, she said, her agency doesn't see hunters and anglers as costing the state any money. "It's assumed that the hunting and fishing activity is incidental use," Hogue said. "In other words, they're coming onto the land only for one specific propose which is hunting and fishing which would not impact or necessarily mean the same as other, more intense uses."

LIKE HIKING?

"While you're hiking in it, you may be there for more hours," Hogue responded. And she said officers from Game and Fish are the ones responsible for monitoring the hunting and fishing activities.

Hogue said would-be hikers, birders and photographers can't escape the more-expensive recreational permits fees simply by purchasing one of the less-expensive hunting or fishing licenses. She said those who rely on the Game and Fish Department licenses actually have to be hunting or fishing.

UP FOR INTERPRETATION

"That hunting license in your pocket, purse or what have you, is not necessarily an e-ride ticket to the state trust lands," Aikens said. He said someone with a hunting license and a weapon - but no recreational permit - might still get cited.

"At that point, you let the courts sort it out," he said. Aikens said, though, a judge would look at all the evidence.

"If I just see you riding your quad around and you just happen to have your pistol strapped to your hip, buddy, you ain't hunting," he said. But Aikens said there's no requirement that those who "hunt" have to be any good at it.

"Fire it around," Aikens quipped. "Then you're legal," he said. "Then you've met actually the intent of the law."

Hogue said her agency is anticipating a drop of between 20 and 30 percent in the number of people buying those recreational use permits, a figure that last year totaled more than 11,000. Even so, she said, the agency hopes to increase its net revenue by $150,000 above the nearly $219,000 it collected in permit fees last year.

The Legislature also earlier this year agreed to begin charging a fee for those who operate off-road vehicles on public roads or lands. While the fee for that has not been set, Hogue said anyone riding one of those vehicles who has paid that fee will not have to buy a recreational permit unless they are doing something more, like camping overnight.

She said there will be an additional 40 to 50 percent drop in the number of recreational permits issued once those off-road license fees take effect. At least in that case, Hogue said, a small percentage of the fees will be given to the Land Department - something that does not occur with the hunting and fishing licenses.