For some Michiganders, there’s no better feeling than sitting in the wilderness, rifle in hand, with a blaze orange vest on. Others prefer a quiet afternoon on Glen Lake with a fishing rod and a friend. What the cost of those experiences should be is widely debated across the state.
In Michigan, hunters and fishermen have access to some of the lowest license fees in the Midwest. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources primarily relies on license sales to fund hunting and fishing-related activities, like fish stocking, habitat conservation, and research on its wildlife management efficiency. Some conservation groups and the DNR say it’s time for increased license fees to continue the department’s work.
The department is looking at about a $2 million deficit for its fisheries division and about a $2.6 million deficit for its wildlife division in fiscal year 2026, according to a DNR official.
License fees for hunting and fishing in Michigan have not increased since 2014. Over the past 11 years, inflation has increased the prices of fish food, fuel, fertilizer, and other management equipment. This has tightened the DNR’s purse strings. Fewer Michiganders have also purchased licenses.
The number of Michigan hunters and anglers has been falling almost every year since 1996, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Michiganders had more free time to hunt or fish. According to statistics provided by a DNR official, the department generated $65.6 million in revenue from all hunting and fishing license sales during the 2020 fiscal year. Total revenue has decreased since then, with $63.7 million generated from all license sales in fiscal year 2024.
Justin Tomei is the policy and government affairs manager for the Michigan United Conservation Clubs. He told Michigan Public that sales of licenses have been decreasing since the DNR got its last “raise” in 2014.
“The number of participants in hunting and trapping is declining,” Tomei said. “I would say, though, that it's not that people aren't buying the licenses. It's more that the individuals that were participating ten years ago have aged out of the activities.”
Taylor Ridderbusch, executive policy advisor at the DNR, said the department typically funds itself by increasing license fee prices every 10 years.
“Licenses are set by the Michigan state Legislature,” Ridderbusch said. “We don't have the ability to set them ourselves. So it's been ten years, and typically the Legislature has come back and revisited this question about every ten years to adjust those prices.”
Last year, Democratic lawmakers like state Representative Amos O’Neal supported legislation that would bump up prices for certain hunting and fishing licenses. The proposed changes in House Bill 6229, which O’Neal introduced during the lame duck session, would increase the DNR’s annual revenue by an estimated $22 million. It would also ensure that the license fees are tied to the customer price index to account for inflation, unlike the current license fees.
The legislation, which would need to be reintroduced in the new state House of Representatives this year, is expected to face challenges. Some Michigan legislators disagree that increased licensing fees are necessary for the DNR to continue operations.
Republican state Representative Ken Borton criticized the proposed license fee increases in December, when the bill was first introduced. He is the chairman of the now Republican-controlled House subcommittee that appropriates funding to natural resource programs.
Borton said increased hunting and fishing license fees would “punish those who love the outdoors” and that he would “zero out” the DNR budget if the department pursues increasing licensing fees.
Other conservationists suggest increasing the state budget’s contribution to the DNR. The state government currently contributes about 1% of its $81.4 billion budget. Governor Gretchen Whitmer proposed in her 2025-26 fiscal year budget plan to increase hunting, fishing, and boating license fees by nearly $29 million.
States like Minnesota and Missouri fund their conservation efforts by directing a fraction of the state sales tax toward their state programs.
“We absolutely are looking at other options. The licensing increases are certainly something that is kind of front and center because it's historically the way that the state of Michigan has funded conservation work,” Ridderbusch said.
Ridderbusch also mentioned that the department is looking at proposing a general fund from the license sales instead of restricting the revenue from license purchases. It’s also considering models that include cooperation between state government, the private sector, and the nonprofit world.
“It's been a user pay-to-play system. It's been incredibly effective over the last hundred years in funding conservation,” Ridderbusch told Michigan Public. “And maybe that has shifted with the shift away from people being interested in hunting and fishing, but right now that’s what we have available to us in statute.”
