_ritter_
Gadfly
In today's Times Herald Record:
New law imposes whopper of fee on fishing guides
May 16, 2006
New law imposes whopper of fee on fishing guides
Life as a fishing guide on the Delaware River is tough. Guides have to work with whatever Mother Nature provides. In some years, it's too much water. In others years, not enough.
Guides are at the mercy of Mother Nature, the fish and, most importantly, the customers. And you won't find any millionaires among them, either.
Now, Pennsylvania has added a hurdle. Under a new law, New York guides who work the Delaware River have to pay $400 per year in fees to Pennsylvania. That's on top of fees paid annually to the United States Interior Department and the state of New York.
The Delaware, under the jurisdiction of the National Parks Service, is a boundary water. If you drew a line down the middle of the river along the New York/Pennsylvania border, you'd have the dividing line between the two states.
Both states allow cross-border fishing. If you hold a New York fishing license, you can fish either side of the river. It's an equal-access process that has worked well for many years.
Fishing guides licensed in Pennsylvania will have to pay only $100 per year to work the river. All other Delaware guides will have to pay the $400 fee.
Tony Ritter, a well-known and respected Delaware guide with 12 years on the river, is perplexed.
"Is it fair and equitable to be charging a New York guide that lives across a boundary water four times the yearly fee that is charged to a guide that lives on the other side of the same border river?" Ritter said.
"In essence I would be breaking the law if I had a fishing charter and launched my drift boat in the Upper Delaware River on state of New York land, floated down the river a few miles and then took the boat out on New York land "¦ even if I had a current license from the National Park Service and the NYS DEC."
Ritter is just one of the many local guides who work hard to make a living against the odds. Local fish-and-game clubs, as well as individual anglers, can help the guides voice their opposition to the new fee. Send your letter to: Dr. Douglas J. Austen, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106.
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[end article]
New law imposes whopper of fee on fishing guides
May 16, 2006
New law imposes whopper of fee on fishing guides
Life as a fishing guide on the Delaware River is tough. Guides have to work with whatever Mother Nature provides. In some years, it's too much water. In others years, not enough.
Guides are at the mercy of Mother Nature, the fish and, most importantly, the customers. And you won't find any millionaires among them, either.
Now, Pennsylvania has added a hurdle. Under a new law, New York guides who work the Delaware River have to pay $400 per year in fees to Pennsylvania. That's on top of fees paid annually to the United States Interior Department and the state of New York.
The Delaware, under the jurisdiction of the National Parks Service, is a boundary water. If you drew a line down the middle of the river along the New York/Pennsylvania border, you'd have the dividing line between the two states.
Both states allow cross-border fishing. If you hold a New York fishing license, you can fish either side of the river. It's an equal-access process that has worked well for many years.
Fishing guides licensed in Pennsylvania will have to pay only $100 per year to work the river. All other Delaware guides will have to pay the $400 fee.
Tony Ritter, a well-known and respected Delaware guide with 12 years on the river, is perplexed.
"Is it fair and equitable to be charging a New York guide that lives across a boundary water four times the yearly fee that is charged to a guide that lives on the other side of the same border river?" Ritter said.
"In essence I would be breaking the law if I had a fishing charter and launched my drift boat in the Upper Delaware River on state of New York land, floated down the river a few miles and then took the boat out on New York land "¦ even if I had a current license from the National Park Service and the NYS DEC."
Ritter is just one of the many local guides who work hard to make a living against the odds. Local fish-and-game clubs, as well as individual anglers, can help the guides voice their opposition to the new fee. Send your letter to: Dr. Douglas J. Austen, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106.
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[end article]