Outdoors briefs: Licenses could be sold in shutdown, burning restrictions start

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Licenses could be sold in shutdown

By Don Davis

State Capitol Bureau

Senators voted 41-24 to keep hunting and fishing license sales going if state government shuts down like last summer.

“I saw firsthand how people were hurt by not allowing them to buy a fishing license,” Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, said Tuesday about why he brought the bill.

The state lost $3 million in revenue during the 2011 shutdown, Gazelka said, but “the tourism industry lost far, far, far more than that.”

Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said some people plan hunting and fishing trips more than a half-year in advance. “To lose that kind of revenue is totally irresponsible.”

Democrats who blame Republicans for last year’s budget impasse that led to the shutdown said bills like Gazelka’s send the wrong message.

“This is another one of those bills where we expect the Legislature to not get its work done,” Sen. Mary Jo McGuire, DFL-Falcon Heights, said.

The bill would require on-line license sales only.

A similar bill by Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker, awaits a House vote.

Several bills making their way through the Legislature exempt a variety of programs from being affected by shutdowns.

Burn restrictions start News-Chronicle

Beginning April 2, burning restrictions will be placed on Lake County.

Until green vegetation emerges, no burning will be allowed unless a special permit is obtained from a local forestry office.

Special permits will only be written for extenuating circumstances such as time sensitive construction projects and prescribed burning conducted by professional firefighters. The DNR encourages the use of composting, recycling, and chipping as alternatives to burning.

While debris burning will be curtailed, the use of campfires, if smaller than 3 feet in diameter and 3 feet in height, will continue to be allowed unless limited by the local jurisdiction.

Tags: lake county, outdoors