For What Its Worth

By Regis Tremblay

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I spend my money on these days, like so many others in Maine and around the country. An economic crisis can make you do that. I think about it at the gas pump, in the grocery store, and whenever I drive by two of my favorite stores: Radio Shack and Best Buy.

So, when Governor Baldacci included a license fee increase in his budget, my first reaction was, “Oh my, this is going to upset a lot of people.” If you are a sportsman, you know that today your license fees and registrations pay for services that traditionally were not offered by or expected from your Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. And, you probably believe that it isn’t fair.

At the time of this writing, I have no idea whether a license increase will actually occur. But, I started to think about what recreational and entertainment things we spend our money on. My first thoughts were on newspaper reports of how much the Yankees were going to pay free-agent Mark Teixeira.

And who isn’t shocked about some of the Major League Baseball free agent contracts that were signed this winter? Mark Teixeira toyed with the Red Sox before signing on with the Yankees for $22.5 million a year for eight years. The entire Yankee payroll out spent the Red Sox by $80 million. The total Red Sox payroll for 2008 was $133.3 million. I thought, “In a time of world-wide recession, this doesn’t make sense.”

Now, I’m a big sports fan and treasure my first memories of Fenway Park and the Green Monster when I was ten years old, and I treasure the memories I share with my own three children when I took them there for their first big league game in 1996. This past summer I returned with my two sons and shelled out $300 on tickets, parking, and food. I justified the cost by the value I placed on the experience, memories, and the fun we shared, even though the Sox lost.

And, that’s basically what each of us does when we decide to spend our hard earned money. This all got me to thinking about the relative value of things. There is really nothing in my world that helps me comprehend the salaries of professional athletes and entertainers. Is there a brain surgeon or cardiologist anywhere that makes $28 million a year like Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees? Even the President of the United States only makes $400,000! By comparison, the minimum salary on the Boston Red Sox was Jacoby Ellsbury at a measly $406,000.

Then I got to thinking how much it would cost a family of four Mainer's to take in a game at Fenway…assuming they could even get tickets. Conservatively speaking it could cost as much as $400 for game tickets, tickets on the Down easter train, food, and souvenirs. The same family of four might spend over $2,000 on a two day, two-night trip to Disney world. Most would say both trips were “worth it.”

Then I started to think about much smaller, more common discretionary spending like dining out. Dinner and drinks for a couple might cost between $60 and $75, without figuring in the babysitter. Dinner for a family of four at Applebee’s would run over $60. Take the same family of four to a movie and it will cost another $50.

When I happened to see a ski report on conditions at Sugarloaf and Sunday River, I asked a skier friend what it costs for a day on the slopes. Since I haven’t skied for many years, I was surprised to learn that one day on the slopes would cost at least $135 per person with a lift ticket, food, ski rental, and travel by car.

With two high school hockey players for children, I’ve forked out $150 for countless composite hockey sticks, and $500 for a pair of skates. I forked that out more than once for both boys.

To put all of this in perspective, it takes only $37 million a year to protect and preserve Maine’s natural resources and the lifeblood of our economy. Hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, boating, snowmobiling, ATV riding, and whitewater rafting have a combined $2.4 Billion impact on Maine’s economy. That’s one heck of a return on the investment!

I know how many sportsmen and women feel about raising their fees, but frankly, $21 for residents to fish for an entire year is a real bargain no matter how you look at it. A hunting license costs $21 and one can hunt all year. (Special permits are required for some game animals.)

Resident boat registration ranges from $20 to $39 and that includes a milfoil sticker. Mainer's pay $35 to register a snowmobile and $33 to register an ATV. Compared to any other form of entertainment, what it costs to fish, hunt, ride a boat, snowmobile, or ATV is a “wicked good deal.”

There are thousands more who enjoy and use our lakes and rivers to canoe or kayak that don’t pay one cent to take part in their chosen outdoor recreational activity. There are also 800,000 people who watch wildlife and enjoy nature for free. Sportsmen have a point when they claim that all of these people who use the outdoors should help pay for clean water, unspoiled wilderness, as well non-game and endangered species.

Sportsmen also have a point when they insist that these folks should also pay for the public safety and rescue services the Department provides through the Warden Service. But this is an argument for another time.

Since the last license fee increase in 2004, everything else from milk and eggs to clothes and cars has steadily gone up. And then there’s gas that went from $1.25 to more than $4 a gallon in just a couple of years.

So, when you put the possible fee increase into perspective, we’re still getting a “wicked good deal.” But, that wasn’t the point of this article: defending the fee increase. Regardless of whether or not that passes this year, compared to any other form of entertainment, vacation, or recreational pursuit, IF&W fees are real bargains by any standard of comparison.

DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

For What Its Worth