HARRISBURG — Several sportsmen's groups told a legislative panel Thursday they are willing to pay more to hunt in Pennsylvania, but worry that proposals to raise license fees won't be enough to help the state Game Commission in the long term.

The House Game and Fisheries Committee is considering two bills with varying fee increases that would take effect July 1, 2007. One would boost the current $19 basic adult hunting license to $29, and the other would raise it to $34.

Hunting license fees have not been increased since 1999, and the commission receives no state tax dollars.

To cope with inflation, the agency has had to cut millions of dollars by leaving staff vacancies unfilled, postponing equipment purchases, and eliminating services such as toll-free numbers for its regional offices, said Carl G. Roe, the commission's executive director.

"Without any annual stream of revenue from the state's taxpayers to support our operating budget, the inflationary effect on the revenues generated by the current license fee structure has impacted our ability to maintain the status quo, let alone move forward," Roe said.

Representatives from sportsmen's groups who have been working with the committee on the legislation said that merely raising the fees would likely help the commission for only a few years. They suggested that lawmakers consider incorporating annual cost-of-living increases into the license fee system or set aside up to 1 percent of the state's sales-tax revenue to provide a more reliable stream of money for the agency.

"It is doubtful that the increase proposed ... would prevent us all from having too soon to return once again and address this issue," said Wes Waldron, president of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania.

Rep. Bruce Smith, the committee's chairman, said it was unlikely that the Legislature would support either a cost-of-living increase or a sales-tax revenue proposal. But Smith, R-York, said he was intrigued by a constituent's recent suggestion to raise the license fees by $1 or $2 every two years instead and asked the sportsmen's groups if they would favor the idea.

"Certainly, that would seem acceptable," said Ted Onufrak, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. "I'd have to take a look at it. I guess it depends where we end up with a true license increase."

The state sold more than 1 million licenses during the 2004-05 fiscal year. Officials have estimated that license sales could decline by up to 10 percent after a fee increase takes effect.

Smith, who is sponsoring the fee increase legislation, said after the hearing he was backing away from a separate proposal he introduced that would create a $20 conservation stamp. Both hunters and non-hunters — such as hikers and bird-watchers — would have to buy the stamp to use state game lands.

Lawmakers previously rejected the idea before approving the last hunting license increase, and sportsmen's groups told the committee Wednesday they either opposed a conservation stamp or thought hunters should be exempted from having to buy one since they already pay license fees.

Smith, who is not running for re-election, said he hopes the Legislature will pass a bill by the end of the current two-year session in November.

"The only urgency is, I'm a lame duck," he said. "I think it would be very difficult for a freshman chairman to be faced initially with a hunting-license increase, so I'm going to do my best to succeed before I retire."

Key provisions of Pennsylvania hunting-license fee legislation:• One bill would raise the $19 basic adult resident hunting license to $29; another bill would increase it to $34.Both bills include a number of identical proposed fee increases, including:• Raising adult nonresident hunting license from $100 to $150.• Raising senior resident hunting license from $12 to $18.• Raising bear hunting license from $15 to $25 for residents and from $35 to $45 for nonresidents.• Adding a $10 pheasant stamp for residents and nonresidents.• Adding a $5 turkey stamp for residents and a $10 stamp for nonresidents.