Some park fees may increase

Fees may increase for three kinds of state park permits next year, according to discussion at the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission meeting Thursday in Fort Scott.

Linda Lanterman, State Park director, requested fee increases for annual, 14-day and overnight camping permits. She said it’s been several years since such fees were raised, and that the increases could bring the parks an additional $500,000 per year.

Annual permits bought in the April-September prime season would increase from $200 to $250. Offseason permits would increase from $150 to $200.

Fourteen-day permits would increase from as low as $85 to $110. Overnight camping would go up from as low as $7 to $9. The topic will be discussed at an August meeting in Clay Center, and voted on in Liberal in October. If approved, increases could start Jan. 1.

Guiding banned on public lands

Commissioners approved a regulation making it illegal to guide hunters as well as anglers on lands or waters managed by Wildlife and Parks. That would include most wildlife areas, walk-in hunting and fishing properties, and state fishing lake properties. Stuart Schrag, Wildlife and Parks public lands manager, said the department plans to meet with federal reservoir managers in Kansas to help them enforce similar regulations.

The new law should be in effect by the beginning of this fall’s hunting seasons.

Turkey limits may fall

Kent Fricke, Wildlife and Parks small game coordinator, told commissioners and the public it’s too early to predict bag limits for the 2017 turkey seasons but said some notable changes could occur. Much depends on success rates from the season that just closed, upon which biologists will estimate the health of the Kansas wild turkey flock. Fricke hopes to have those numbers soon.

It’s possible hunters in eastern and south-central Kansas could see spring limits reduced from two birds to one. It’s also possible fall hunting could be closed in those same areas if success rates aren’t high enough from the past spring season.

Extra deer permits to be returned

Todd Workman, Wildlife and Parks assistant secretary, said the department has learned that about 3,200 non-resident deer hunters were inadvertently sent a second “buck” permit with recent mailings. Envelopes will be sent to those hunters, requesting the extra permit be returned or destroyed.

The mailing vendor who committed the mistake will pay for the collection process. Kansas law only allows hunters one permit to take an antlered deer, with the exception of those who buy an additional permit from a shooting or conservation group for fund-raising purposes.

This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Some park fees may increase."