thursday, february 26, 1976
daily nebraskan
page 5
Wildllifle
Continued from p. 1
Last fall, the Constitutional Revision and Recreation
Committee voted not to introduce a bill to these effects,
with full committee sponsorship. In committee chairman
Sen. George Syas words, the fee increases were "too
much, too fast," for Nebraska outdoor sports enthusiasts
to bear.
Columbus Sen. Donald Dworak, who voted against
committee sponsorship of the bill, this session intro
duced LB861 containing the rate increases.
Wildlife habitat shrinking
Dworak said that since 1973, 600,000 acres of prime
wildlife habitat have been lost to agriculture. Those acres
had been set aside for crop production control by the fed
eral government. This year more acres covered by the
federal cropland adjustment program, keeping land out of
agricultural production, will expire.
According to Nebraska Department of Agriculture sta
tistics, there are 3 million more acres of Nebraska land
under cultivation than there were in 1972. Not all of that
land was wildlife habitat, and there is no measure of ex
actly how much of it was.
Further, Nebraska has lost 85 per cent of its wetlands
habitat, mostly in the south-central Nebraska rain basin,
according to Dworak. He said center-pivot irrigation, a
practice of increasing popularity among farmers, has
accounted for much of the reduction in shelter-belt
habitat. ,
Larry Morris, a Game and Parks Commission admini
strator, said measures of available nesting cover for game
birds, and game bird counts made by rural mail carriers
have fallen correspondingly since 1950.
Some legislators, without specifically opposing fee in
creases, have wondered aloud why hunters, trappers and
fishermen have to bear the entire load of saving wildlife
habitat.
Sportsmen's clubs, representing those who will be pay
ing most, are unanimous in their support for almost any
thing that will preserve game, even if it means doubling
the fees they pay.
NRDs could help
One way the Game and Parks Commission may receive
taxpayer's money from LB861 is 'through the 24 Natural
r WW i
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February 28
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Nebraska Resource Districts (NkD), each having taxing
power of up to 1 mill. If the bill is passed, 40 per cent of
the $2.7 million the bill generates will be applied to cost
share programs with the NRDs. The districts would be
able to put up about $300,000 to the Game and Parks
Commission's $ 1 million to pay private landowners to
fence off wildlife habitat, plant cover or leave existing
cover alone. t
Another $700,000 would be used by the Commission
strictly to buy land for wildlife habitat.
Of the remaining $1 million, $600,000 would be spent
on development and management of public lands for
wildlife and $400,000 for the increase in operating costs,
including more full-arid part-time employes, the bill would
produce.
'Bill Bailey, assistant director of the Game and Parks
Commission, said $2.7 million is what the bill would raise,
assuming the volume of licenses issued does not decline
because of the increased costs. He said -with the NRD
money, and funds from federal exise taxes on recreational
equipment and the federal Land and Water Conservation
Fund, the $2.7 million could become about $5.2 million.
Lewis opposes bill
One opponent of the bill, reported tothe floor of the
Legislature Tuesday, is Bellevue Sen. Frank Lewis.
He said he is a devoted supporter of providing habitat
for wildlife, but that LB861 is a "band-aid approach."
The fee increases are a serious injustice to sportsmen,
he said, and they should not be required to carry the
entire load. ,
He said he advocates a long-range planning-and-financing-frcm-state-tax-funds
approach to insure wildlife
habitat.
Game and Parks Commissioners and staff have contem
plated such a plan, but considered it politically unfeasible
this year, administrator Morris said. They are planning
a campaign tor state tax money during the next legisla
tive session, he said. i
Missouri has a tax on soft drinks which is projected
to raise $15 million for its game fund this year, he added.
Whatever method is selected, in Dworak's words,
"wildlife habitat does.not have time on its side."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOiO1
The present Game and Parks Commission game fees,
and the changes proposed in LR861 are as follows:
Permit ' present fee proposed fee (LB861)
- Upland game stamp $ 1
Habitat stamp , $7.50
Resident hunting 4.50 6.50
Resident fishing ' 4.00 7.50
Resident huntfish 8.00 13.50.
Resident turkey 5.00 15.00
Resident trapping 3.50 7.00
Resident fur buyer 10.00 A 100.00
Non-resident hunting 25.00 30.00
Non-resident fishing
Annual 15.00 20.00
5-day 5.00 7.50
Non-resident turkey 15.00 35.00 '
Non-resident deer 35.00 50.00
Non-resident antelope 35.00 50.00
Non-resident trapping 100.00 . 200.00
Non-resident fur buyer 100.00 . 300.00
'Resident fur buyers' permit fees probably will be
amended to $50. Resident deer and antelope permits would
remain $15. Habitat acquisition under LB861 essentially is
intended for smaller game.
CLEP tests allow
testing out of class
Getting college credit for classes you have not taken is
not a myth. It's possible to test out of classes if a score
above fifty percentile is obtained on the College Level
Examination Program (CLEP) tests. ,
The nationally accepted tests are available for students
who want to bypass a class because they already know the
material covered in the course said Shirley Thomsen,
UNL assistant director of registration and records of aca
demic services.
English, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences and
social sciences-history are covered in the general examina
tion, a one hour objective test, r
Tests in history, biology, sociology, chemistry and for
eign languages relate to specific college courses.
CLEP tests are given the third week of every month at
the University Examinations Service, Seaton Hall 1222. A
completed registration form and a check or money order
must be received three weeks before the examination
date.
There is a $20 fee for takine one test and $30 for
taking two. March 23 is the registration deadline for the
April 14th test.
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