The Illinois Department of Natural Resources dropped a bombshell on the Illinois tournament angling community Nov. 1 regarding permits and taxes they had previously promised would never happen.

Administrative Rule 110.4 states the following:

In accordance with Administrative Rule 110.4, Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management – ALL applications to hold fishing tournaments of more than 20 participants (excluding IHSA fishing tournaments) on IDNR properties must now have an Activity Permit completed and approved by the Venue Superintendent, then routed through the Activity Permit process, in order to be an approved event. Tournaments that charge an entry fee and/or have a purse will also be subject to 10% of proceeds going to the Department and a sales permit form submitted with the activity permit. Questions regarding these permit fees can be directed to [email protected]

It also states that it is illegal for any group of more than 20 people to use property and facilities owned, leased or operated by the Department, unless the group complies with this section and obtains a permit. of activity. Section 110.4, Section D also provides that all persons or entities seeking to charge attendees a fee, provide items for sale, or collect money or items in connection with an event located on any property or Ministry-owned, leased or managed facilities must complete a Sales Permit Application Form.

All revenue generated from the event will be subject to a 10% fee payable to the Ministry at the end of the event. The Activity Permit Application Fee may be deducted from the Sales Permit Fee due to the Department at the end of the event. All funds received will be allocated to the site from which the fee was collected.

This is the crux of the matter for tournaments and tournament organizers: This is an unfair tax placed on tournaments but not on others using the same facilities.

According to a frequently asked questions memo dated 01/20/2022 by the IDNR, it states that even lakes or ramps not owned by the IDNR, but managed, leased or regulated by the IDNR are in effect mandated by the new administrative rule with a $25 dollar permit fee and 10% tax on total proceeds collected.

The IDNR has repeatedly stated that it does not target tournament or tournament angling, but other boaters are not required to pay similar fees on the same ramps and parks. I know of several clubs and organizations that have stopped hosting events as a result of this new administrative rule. This is not good for the IDNR or the anglers who have competed on these lakes in the past.

There is an exemption for Illinois high school fishing events, but the IHSA isn’t the only organization holding youth events. Events held as charity events for charities are also not mentioned.

Will they be held to the same fees? I believe they will.

When the tournament authorization process was implemented several years ago, I was personally told that it was not a Trojan horse to collect fees and that would never happen. It is now in place. The presidents of the Illinois Bass Federation were told the same thing during their meeting at which the director spoke at its inception.

Starting with the new licensing process, we were told to manage the fishery with catch rates and sizes and the number of boaters alone has now become an additional source of revenue. Permit fees and 10% of total dollars collected from entry fees, sponsor money and raffles go forward.

This 10-year-old administrative rule had not been enforced because the IDNR did not consider it fair practice intended only for tournament anglers.

The sums collected are allocated to the parks of origin in accordance with the IDNR and will be directly allocated to this park. They should be used for wear and tear, grounds maintenance, dock repairs, security and vault toilets. Fish cleaning stations are also included and are not used by tournament organizations today. Most tournament participants do everything they can to release their catch alive and are penalized for dead fish.

Boaters, jet skiers and pontoon boats were not charged for using the same parks as the tournaments used, but will ultimately be the beneficiaries of the tournament dollars collected. This is not meant to sting boaters and anglers, but rather to let them know they might be next.

The current IDNR called this non-enforcement “negligence”, but like those who were there when it was written, it was an unfair practice aimed at tournaments only and officials agreed that it was acted as an unjust mandate, and therefore not enforced.

Again, other boaters use the same parks, restrooms, ramps and parking lots and are not bound by the same set of rules or taxes. This Administrative Rule is administered by the Joint Administrative Rules Committee.

Tournament anglers feel unfairly targeted and singled out by this new practice. One thing worth mentioning is that the angling community is an integral part of lake projects including maintenance, buildings, and fishing habitat today, but that could drastically decrease with decrease in volunteering. Several national organizations are involved and ultimately the losers include the local communities as well as the additional tax revenue generated by the tournaments and the anglers who spend money in these communities for accommodation, food and petrol.

There is a misconception about the profitability of tournaments. The small trails in particular live hand to mouth and do not generate significant income. Most refund 100% of entrance fees charged or more. Many believe that tournament profit from the use of the public resource is excessive, but this is not true. Today, license sales, gasoline taxes, and excise taxes paid by enthusiasts make their way to the IDNR. Eliminating tournaments will cost money in the long run. Fishermen have already paid to access and use these facilities. Many of the ramps used were paid for with funding from Sport Fish Restoration.

If this new rule were implemented to increase IDNR’s revenue, additional dollars could be found through other means, such as a minimal increase in license fees. Anglers understand that maintaining and feeding these parks takes funds, but want a place at the table to discuss other rational ways to achieve this goal and help all lakes in the Illinois to thrive with more fish and better catch rates. Most tournament anglers are conservation conscious and, as mentioned earlier, release the fish they have caught to be fished another day.

Ultimately, anglers and non-anglers alike have a stake in this and hopefully the cooler minds will prevail by turning their backs and helping find other ways to increase income at instead of a 10% royalty. These rules have a way of spreading successfully and it’s really more than an Illinois agreement.

As anglers, we all need to step up and put our respective hats in the ring, not just to get our way, but rather to watch over the community as a whole. This is indeed one of those times.