LANSING – For the cost-conscience hunter or angler, there's no better place in the Midwest than Michigan.

“We're the bargain basement for hunting and fishing fees,” said Mary Dettloff, press secretary for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Those fees haven't been raised since 1996, she said. But without an increase now, DNR will be forced to cut more than it already has.

Without higher license fees, the department plans to eliminate 14 conservation officers. Currently there are 141 officers in the field, an all-time low, she said.

Lt. Dean Molnar, DNR law supervisor for the 11-county Cadillac district said, “Right now, as short as we are, surrounding officers are having to pick up the extra workload.”

Officers from one county are forced to cover problems in surrounding counties that don’t have coverage, which increases driving time, response time and workload, he said.

More cuts would make it difficult to protect people’s safety and the natural resources, Molnar said.

The low number of officers in the field worries Michigan United Conservation Clubs, said Amy Spray, a resource policy specialist for the group. MUCC is the state's largest conservation organization.

Fewer officers could mean an increase in poaching and accidents and slower response times, she said.

“I think there's a number of concerns there,” she said.

Dettloff agrees that the cuts would hurt response times.

“If we're going to cut 14 officers in addition to the 20 unfilled openings we have now, it's going to make response time slower. It's going to make it look like we don't care, but we do care,” she said.

However, she said DNR isn’t worried about an increase in poaching, though investigations will take longer to complete.

“Poachers are always going to poach,” she said.

A legislative proposal to increase license fees by 25 percent has been stuck in committee since the spring, she said. Another option being considered is a two-year increase of $5 per license, she said.

Currently, resident hunting licenses range from $1 (junior small game) - $30 (combination deer), while resident fishing licenses range from $1 (military personnel) - $28 (all-species).

MUCC favors the $5-a-year increase for the next two years because it would cover the projected deficit and give the department time to figure out other solutions, Spray said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch, is proposing to earmark one-sixth of the sales tax collected on the sale of sporting goods as an alternative to higher fees. Any increase in fees is not a political reality, he said.

“We’re losing 3 percent of sportsmen every year. Raising the fees will just drive more hunters out of the state,” he said.

The proposal would generate about $20 million in revenue, which would more than cover the department’s $8 million shortfall, he said.

“That would be enough to stave off any increase for a number of years,” he said.

Dettloff said that the recent budget problems and tax increases are one reason it's been difficult to raise fees.

“The Legislature is just a little gun-shy after raising taxes,” she said.

None of the money from the recently approved tax hike is earmarked for DNR, she said. Without the needed funds, the department will continue to make service cuts, as it has for the last few years, she said.

“We've cut $20 million since 2005. There's nothing left to cut that doesn't bleed,” she said.