Like with all things there are different perspectives,,,
There is the perspective of the person who maybe should have known better, but didn’t and was clearly not an intentional offender but they got harshly penalized for their ignorance. Their perspective is, it stinks,,, (and sorry I
NEVER buy the argument that ignorance of the law is no excuse. We are not all lawyers nor are we all as knowledgeable as the person who would stand judgment of us,,,) There used to be such a thing as an honest mistake, and when that mistake resulted in no injury to anyone else we had warnings not big dollar fines!
And then there is the perspective of the person who legitimately cannot afford the license,,, Consider that for a moment,,, Well you really cant! You can try, but unless you are in that position you really cant and that’s where we loose credibility when we stand on the soapbox and preach about how its “worth it” and “its money well spent” and all the other arguments that are meaningless to the person with empty pockets.
I can afford a license and most here can as well, but I also realize that there are many who are not as fortunate and that would struggle to afford a license fee of that magnitude.
Again, we are talking about a license that allows people to fish not a registration fee that covers cutting thousands of miles of trails through the woods and then pays for them to be groomed weekly or more so that we can ride our many thousand dollar snowmobiles on in comfort. Nor is this a fee that covers some inspection or oversight program to ensure public safety like food and beverage licenses. And its sure not a license in the sense of a drivers or pilots license that ensures that you are qualified to operate vehicles, it’s a fishing license!
I wont attempt to debate any of the items that some argue are the positive results of the ability of the state to collect such revenue, I simply ask you to consider that the $53 fee we are talking about it not an insignificant amount of money for many people.
Hummm,,, wasn’t I done after the last post,,,
LOL,,, sorry,,,
