The DNR Enforcement Division recently reminded anglers that their 2007 fishing and shelter licenses are good through April 30, 2008. During the 2007 Session, the Minnesota Legislature adjusted the angling and shelter license period from the last day in February to April 30. They made the change after the 2007 fishing regulations booklet went to print.

The legislative reasoning behind the change is so anglers don’t have to buy new licenses during the winter season. The license year for resident fishing, the angling portion of a sporting license, nonresident fishing, resident fish house, resident dark house, and nonresident fish house begins on March 1 and ends on April 30 of the following year. In other words, the license year now lasts 14 months.

This is just great if you like to fish for crappies and yellow perch—primary targets in March and April. Unfortunately, trout anglers don’t benefit from the Legislature’s magnanimity. The license year extension doesn’t apply to trout stamps. So, if in March you like to go after lake trout in the Boundary Waters, fish the no-kill season on Bluff Country creeks, or lob spawn sacks of Lake Superior ‘loopers, you’ll need a 2008 trout stamp beginning March 1.

Minnesota’s license year for fishing, small game, and trapping has ended on the last day in February for a long time. Prior to that, the license year ended December 31. As I recall, the change to the last day in February was made so winter anglers could fish through the end of walleye season and hunters could go to the end of rabbit and squirrel season without having to buy a new license. It was a logical, consistent date to end the license year.

Now, if you have a “sporting” license (the gender-neutral name for the combination small game hunting and fishing license once called the “sportsman’s” license), the small game portion of the license will expire on the last day in February, but you’ll be able to continue fishing (except for trout) until April 30. Of course, you’ll have to buy a new license before the general fishing opener—another date that may be subject to legislative change. Confused? Think maybe the Legislature has better things to do than tinker with fishing licenses?

Unfortunately, more tinkering is needed. The political adjustments left the licensing structure out of tune. The new April 30 end date is neither consistent with other licenses nor fair to all anglers. At the very least, the Legislature must address the trout stamp issue, but overall consistency among licenses that have traditionally started and ended on the same dates should be reconsidered. Hunting and fishing are not well served by confusing rules.

On the Border

Another new rule anglers and others who cross into Canada must know is that identification requirements have changed for entering the United States. Now you must have a picture ID, such as a driver’s license, and your birth certificate to present to U.S. Customs officials. Of course, a passport is best and eventually will be required.

Border security has increased since 9/11 along what used to be our rather casual border with Canada. The birth certificate requirement, which began January 31, is an interim measure until passports are mandated and a new, land-crossing card comes on line. However, there are questions whether a birth certificate is a valid form of identification.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune recently published a letter sent to the Department of Homeland Security by several U.S. Senators, including Coleman and Klobuchar from Minnesota. The Senators questioned the effectiveness of using birth certificates for identification, because they are not standardized. They asked Homeland Security to reconsider the birth certificate requirement.

While the birth certificate requirement isn’t likely to make much of a difference for your annual Canadian fishing trip, it is clear that we can no longer think of the border as an informal boundary. While the two nations remain friendly, global changes necessitate better border security. Hopefully, the respective governments will allow their citizens time to adjust to the transition to stricter rules.

Over time, the two countries should continue to encourage cross-border trade and travel. The current identification requirements seem to weigh most heavily on law-abiding citizens, a point made in the Senators’ letter to Homeland Security. And a greater effort should be made to get the word out regarding the birth certificate requirement prior to the summer travel season. Ultimately, we might be more secure if the U.S. and Canada cooperated on shared security issues.

As a friend observed, “The U.S. and Canada would be better served if we focused on our mutual North American borders rather then the border between our countries.”

Arne’s On Board

Former Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson encouraged the Legislature to quickly pass a dedicated funding bill this year in a recent op-ed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Carlson’s support for dedicated funding was mostly boilerplate—conservation funding is at a historic low, therefore we need a consistent source of new money. Like all other supporters, he didn’t articulate when or how the Legislature will craft the policy to determine spending allocations.