You asked (1) how much the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) charges for a pheasant tag series and what it charged previously, (2) how much revenue the pheasant tag series has generated over the past few years, and (3) if DEP has decreased the number of pheasants it stocks.

In 2003, DEP increased the pheasant tag series fee from $ 10 to $ 14. It did so, in part, based on responses to a survey that it began in July 2001 and because tag fees help fund the following season’s stock. The survey was sent to a stratified sample of 2000 of the 9,668 hunters who purchased tags in the Fall of 2000. DEP used 424 surveys for statistical purposes. It found that 68% of respondents supported a fee increase when the increase would be “to raise additional supporting revenue for the [pheasant] stocking program,” according to an article at DEP’s website (adapted from a July/August 2002 issue of Connecticut Wildlife) entitled, “Survey Sheds Light on Connecticut Pheasant Hunters. ” A copy of the article is attached.

According to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, from pheasant tag fees, DEP collected:

Funding for the pheasant stocking program is derived from tag and pheasant hunting licensing. Although the tag fee increased in 2003, bringing in more revenue, the number of hunters decreased (a trend continuing for several seasons). Therefore, the number of pheasants stocked in 2004 may not increase as sharply due to the drop off in number of hunters. (A pheasant tag series includes 10 tags that are valid from October to January of the next year. )

JH: nf