The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has released a proposal to increase fees for hunting, fishing and trapping licenses for the first time in 14 years.
The department is assessing whether or not to implement new safety rules for boating and increase fees for motorboat registrations for the first time in 7 years.
There could also be a fee to camp on department-owned lands, the permits for which are currently free.
Apart from the new fees, the department is looking for feedback on a number of new regulations for hunting, fishing and trapping — dictating what participants can and cannot do. Many of them seek to protect endangered species and stop the spread of invasive species.
What are the proposed changes?
Licenses to hunt, trap and fish for Virginia residents — depending on the package — are looking at increases up to the amount allowed by law, roughly between $5-20. Higher price hikes up to $50 would apply to nonresidents.
The new $10 fee for camping permits on department-owned wildlife management areas and other lands is meant to offset increasing costs to maintain and regulate the lands, the department’s rationale reads.
The registration fees for motorboats would be raised by $5 to offset the department’s increased costs for boating law enforcement, education, maintenance sites and administrative functions.
The department also wants to update its safety rules for boating to be in compliance with federal regulations. That includes:
- Requiring children under the age of 13 to wear life jackets
- Requiring better upkeep and visibility for waterway markers
- Requiring motorboats of 26 feet or less that are capable of developing 115 pounds or more of status thrust to be equipped with an engine cut-off switch
Another regulatory update would clarify the size of and amount of fish anglers can take home from bodies of water shared with Virginia’s neighbor Tennessee — particularly for smallmouth bass, white bass, crappie, rock bass, trout and catfish in the South Holston Lake and the John W. Flannagan Reservoir.
Rock bass and flathead catfish — both invasive species — would be added to the list of fish that cannot be stocked into private lakes and ponds.
Anglers would also be barred from catching snapping turtles using trotlines, juglines, limblines or set poles, as the species is designated as one in need of conservation in Virginia’s 2025 Wildlife Action Plan.
Abrams Creek and its tributaries in Washington County may be added to a list of waters in which using seines, traps and nets are prohibited to protect populations of Tennessee Dace, a state endangered species.
The Virginia List of Endangered and Threatened Species would be updated to include the Roanoke Logperch as endangered and to remove the Emerald Shiner.
The department is also seeking feedback for an update to its Stocked Trout Management Plan, which will guide their strategy to uphold trout populations for recreational fishing through 2035. The proposed plan would see fewer trout bred and released into bodies of water.
On land, they propose changing the release date for rehabilitated deer fawns from Dec. 31 to Jan. 15, sparing them from the regular deer hunting season.
Full descriptions for all of the new rules and regulations, including multiple code updates and language clarifications, can be found here.
Department says price hikes are necessary to offset rising costs
Long story short, the department wants to increase fees in order to keep up with the rising costs of the services it provides.
The last time license fees were broadly increased in 2012, the department’s operating budget was approximately $55.2 million, which is comparable to about $80 million in today’s dollars, according to their spokesperson, Shelby Crouch. However, the department’s operating budget for fiscal year 2027 is about $65 million.
“Over the years, compounded inflation has caused the cost of doing business to dramatically rise, while DWR revenues have remained generally static,” Crouch stated.
Crouch said department leaders have used “out-of-the-box” thinking to tackle their money troubles, but after 14 years, a last resort of raising fees has become necessary.
Another chunk of the department’s funding comes from federal programs, such as the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, that provide matching funds from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
The department can only capture those federal dollars based on the number of licenses sold. Because Virginia has several license exemptions, the department is missing out on those funds, Crouch stated. Leaders are brainstorming ways to do so, but the new license fee increases will not solve that problem.
Public comment period open until early August
The department has opened a public comment period through Aug. 5 at 5 p.m, which can be accessed here.
While we will not know what the public comments say until then, a symphony of emoji reactions on a comment-locked Facebook post is composed of about 120 likes, 15 angry faces and about 10 “haha” faces.
The Board of Wildlife Resources — which still comprises mostly former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees — will then meet on Aug. 20 to discuss the feedback and vote on the proposals.
