$1 Minnesota deer licenses
March 13th, 2006 by Administrator
Proposed $1 deer license surcharge would fund venison donation
Pioneer PressA legislative proposal would add a $1 surcharge to all Minnesota deer licenses to pay for the processing of venison for food shelves and other charitable groups.
But despite its good intentions, the venison donation program won’t be an easy swallow for hunters or the Department of Natural Resources. Some DNR officials have been hesitant to embrace a surcharge on deer licenses that essentially places the responsibility for a social program on the backs of hunters. Many hunters agree.
“The problem is, should the deer-hunting community be responsible for this type of program?” said Josh Gackle, administrator for the House Environment and Natural Resources committee. “It’s a great idea, everybody supports it, including House members, but how does it get funded?”
The DNR and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, along with select venison processors, already have collaborated on a venison donation program that relies on hunters to pay for the costs of processing. With an overpopulation of deer and regulations allowing hunters to take up to five deer per season, the DNR says there’s a need for such a program.
Under the current program, hunters who donate a deer usually pay for its processing, which costs $50 to $70. Many processors have offered reduced rates for the program.
Last fall, hunters donated 589 deer — 25,450 pounds of venison — more than doubling the previous year’s donation, according to the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. One processor, Big Steer in St. Paul, handled 340 deer, the most of any processor in the state, according to the MDHA.
Sixty deer were donated in Bemidji, where processing was paid for by a local community group.
In Wisconsin, hunters can voluntarily donate $1 to a venison donation program through a surcharge on deer licenses. The surcharge raised $17,000 in 2005. That helped pay to process 7,200 donated deer last year, totaling 324,000 pounds of ground venison for Wisconsin food shelves.
Since its inception six years ago, Wisconsin’s venison donation program has given 1.9 million pounds of venison to state food shelves.
The Minnesota license surcharge proposal is sponsored by House member Gregory Davids, R-Preston, and Senate member Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy.
BY CHRIS