TWRA considering various fee increases

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) says they are considering an increase in various license fees.

They announced this at their meeting in West Tennessee this week.

This increase would apply to boating, hunting, and other kinds of licenses given out by TWRA and increase fees on average about 30 percent.

The agency says they haven’t increased fees for boating since 20-19 and other licenses since 20-15, and that inflation has put the agency in a difficult position to continue their conservation efforts.

Frank Fiss, the Deputy Director of TWRA’s Business Operations said, “The headaches of inflation we’ve all experienced from Covid have lingered on. All of those supply chain issues and increased demand led to issues. The inflation has gotten bad during and after Covid and we’re still realizing that. That’s why we’ve waited until now, otherwise we would’ve been having this conversation three or four years ago.”

This will be a process that will take several months, and a fee increase would not be approved until next year.