At a time when folks are just beginning to see a reprieve at the gas pumps, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is making changes to the permit system and asking all sportsmen to dig a little deeper into their pockets.

March of 2009 will bring some drastic changes to our permit system that will affect everyone, including youth, seniors, college students, landowners, general residents, non-resident licenses and even special-permit purchasers.

Like most of you, I grumbled a little when I first heard there were going to be increases. But after doing a little digging, I’m confident many will agree we’re still getting quite the bang for our buck (pardon the expression) and we’ll actually see a return on our investment in the form of increased federal taxes flowing in to improve conservation in our state.

Since the changes are so numerous, I’m going to break it down into a series that will be presented over the course of several weeks. We’ll cover everyone who will be affected, and if you hunt or fish in Missouri, then this includes you.

This week we’re going to take a look at both seniors and landowners, as the permit changes in both categories were some of the biggest and are related in a way.

Seniors

For around 30 years, MDC has given all Missouri residents age 65 or older the opportunity to fish and hunt small game free of charge. The fee exemptions were intended to help seniors, many of which are living on fixed incomes.

While seniors still had to pay (and will continue to in the future) for permits to participate in specific activities such as trout fishing, hunting deer, turkeys and migratory birds, they were rewarded and encouraged to continue in their other hunting and fishing pursuits at no cost.

MDC is now phasing out these exemptions for senior citizens and replacing them with one-time purchase “forever” permits. The new Senior Fish Forever Permit will be a life permit to take fish, frogs, mussels, clams, turtles, crayfish and live bait. The Senior Hunt Forever Permit will entitle holders to hunt small game for life. A Senior Hunt and Fish Forever Permit will combine the privileges into one permit.

The new Senior Hunt or Fish Forever permits will cost $24 if purchased between the ages of 60 and 63, and $12 if purchased at age 64 or older. A Senior Hunt and Fish Forever Permit will cost $40 for buyers age 60s through 63 and $20 for those 64 and older.

MDC set the rates to encourage senior hunters or anglers to buy one as soon as they are eligible as they will save anywhere from $26 to $47 by purchasing them quickly. “The earlier they buy, the more they save, and the longer we get to claim them,” said Dave Erickson, assistant director at MDC.

Just where exactly are these new permit buying seniors being “claimed”? MDC will see a substantial increase in federal fish and wildlife conservation money coming in to the state with the new influx of permits sold to those ages 60 or older.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divides the money received from federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing goods among states to help manage game and fish. Each state’s allocation depends partly on how many paid license holders it has. Unfortunately, Missouri’s policy of exempting permits for seniors cut into its share of that federal money.

By having seniors purchase the one-time permit, MDC is able to claim them for federal reimbursement purposes for up to 12 years. This will greatly increase the amount of federal funds coming back into our state.

Erickson noted that in 2007, for each person who purchased a fishing permit, Missouri received $11 through the Sport Fish Restoration Program (Dingell-Johnson/Wallop-Breau Act). For each person who purchased a hunting permit, the Show-Me State got $17 from the Wildlife Restoration Program (Pittman-Robertson Act).

Landowners

Seniors aren’t the only ones being called forward to chip in when the new permit system goes into effect next spring. Many property owners of small acreages will no longer be issued no-cost landowner deer and turkey permits.

As part of the new permit system, the minimum acreage to be qualified for no-cost deer or turkey permits will be raised from 5 to 80 contiguous acres. This will also generate increased permit sales in the state. Owners of at least 5 contiguous acres will still be allowed to hunt small game and fish on their land without permits.

In addition to these landowner changes, MDC will be putting together a registry of those who are qualified for free landowner permits to aid in the process of tracking and issuing them in the future.

These are just a few of the changes in store for sportsmen who hunt and fish in the state of Missouri. Check out next week’s outdoor page to see what 2009 has in store for Missouri’s youth and those wanting to introduce new outdoorsmen to the sport.