New York to Decrease Sporting License Fees

Beginning February 1, 2014 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is decreasing sporting license fees.  This price reduction could increase participation and tourism bringing additional revenue to many of the states rural areas where most of these activities take place.

Another change is that New York will no longer issue licenses on a "season year". The new licensing system will issue individual licenses for 365 days from the date of issue.  For example, if a fisherman buys their license on April 1 to fish in the spring that license will be effective until the following April 1. Under current regulations, that same angler would have had to purchase another license in October to fish in the fall as the current "season system" goes from Oct 1 to Sept 30.

Individuals will have to pay closer attention to their own license expiration dates in order to remain in compliance since there will no longer be one common start and end date to the license year. The new system will also make online license purchases easier on the DEC website.

The current license process is confusing due to the number, type and potential combinations of hunting and fishing licenses. In addition, fees are presently higher in New York than in many neighboring and comparable states. The proposal would:

• Reduce by 11 the number of licenses available while maintaining all current hunting and fishing privileges and opportunities
• Reduce the price of a hunting license by 24 percent from $29 to $22
• Reduce the price of a fishing license by nearly 14 percent from $29 to $25
• Make fishing licenses valid for one year from the date of purchase
• Create a non-resident license structure which is the same as the resident license structure
• Fold trapping privileges into the hunting license for no additional fee for certified trappers
• Maintain Junior Trapper and Trapper Mentor opportunities
• Reduce fees for non-resident hunting and fishing licenses to attract more out-of-state participants
• Retain discounted licenses for youth, seniors, military disabled and Native Americans.

License	Current	New
NYS Residents
Annual Fishing License	$29	$25
Annual Hunting License	$29	$22
Annual Bow Hunting Privilege	$21	$20
Annual Muzzleloading	$21	$11
Out-of-State Residents
Annual Fishing License	$70	$50
Annual Hunting License	$140	$100
Annual Bow Hunting Privilege	$140	$40
Annual Muzzleloading	$140	$30
Annual Turkey	$50	$20
One-day Fishing	$15	$10