As The News reported recently in its series “Hunting in decline,” fewer hunters head out into the woods these days, potentially hampering the economy as fewer people buy hunting supplies, food, and lodging, and hurting the environment as the deer population grows.

Now, lawmakers in Lansing could raise another obstacle to hunting and fishing by increasing license fees.

House Bill 6229 would raise the price for a base hunting license from $10 to $15 and raise the cost of a fishing license fee from $25 to $38. A combination license would rise from $75 to $113.

The bill would increase other license fees and tags, as well.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the fee hikes would raise the revenue needed to maintain the state’s natural resources, including state parks.

We understand that need, which is likely heightened by fewer people buying hunting licenses.

But you have two ways to make money: Either increase the per-license revenue or increase the number of licenses sold, and it gets harder to sell more when you raise prices.

So the proposal to hike license fees concerns us, because it’s not just more revenue that’s needed but more hunters, and making hunting more expensive can’t help bring in more people.