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The Department of Natural Resources is responsible for the distribution, sale, and revenue collection of recreational licenses in Wisconsin. The Department's current Automated License Issuance System (ALIS) services are provided by a private contractor. Components of the ALIS system include point of sale license issuance, administration and accounting, Internet sales, telephone sales, and special permit application processing.
Wisconsin issues 145 different licenses through the automated licensing system. In license year 2000, 3.2 million licenses and approvals were issued through 2.7 million transactions to approximately 2 million customers; collecting over $59 million in revenue.
There are several high-volume peak sales periods throughout the year. Highest sales volumes occur around season openers, permit application dates, holidays, and the in the beginning of the license year. Sales reach their highest prior to the Wisconsin deer season opener in mid-November, processing approximately 190,000 transaction per week.
DNR utilizes a network of approximately 1,500 license agents to issue recreational licenses. License agents are located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan. This agent network consists of merchants who are local sporting goods, bait and tackle shops, convenience stores, building supply and hardware stores, etc. These license vendors account for 85% of DNR’s sport hunting and fishing license sales. In addition, DNR sells licenses at 44 offices and properties throughout the state.
License agents use a point of sale device(s) (POS) to issue licenses and approvals. License agents collect proceeds from the sale of licenses and deposit these funds, less their commission, into a designated bank account. Funds are electronically transferred to the State's bank on a weekly basis.
The current point of sale system operates as a real time, on line license sales system. The data terminal sends a transaction to the host database, updates the buyer record, and then receives approval for the sale from the host. After approval, the terminal prints the desired license/receipt, and the license agent collects payment. A variety of templates are produced and printed on durable license stock; including standard licenses, back tags, kill tags, harvest records, snowmobile trail passes, etc.
Wisconsin currently issues hunting and fishing licenses over the Internet. Most licenses are offered online; with some types allowing the customer to print a permanent (annual) license on their home printer. There is a handling fee up to $3.00 per order for extended purchasing options, such as Internet sales. This fee is intended to cover the expenses incurred with processing the order (credit card discount fees, postage, etc.) Customers are allowed to use credit cards for payment. Internet sales are available to customers 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.
Licenses purchased by phone are fulfilled by mail within a specified period of time. Customers who purchase by phone are provided with a temporary authorization number, which in some instances allows the customer to participate in the activity they purchased the license for (prior to receiving it in the mail). The vendor is responsible for mailing the printed license and the appropriate regulations/information directly to the customer. There is DNR a handling fee up to $3.00 per order for extended purchasing options, such as telephone sales. This fee is intended to cover the expenses incurred with processing the order (credit card discount fees, postage, etc.) Customers are allowed to use credit cards or electronic checks for payment. Telephone sales are available to customers 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.
Wisconsin manages controlled hunts which limit the issuance of hunting permits issued to customers for turkey, bear, goose, antlerless deer, bobcat, otter, and fisher. Customers apply for a permit, a drawing is held to determine winners, and permits/tags are mailed to customers. DNR currently collects special permit applications by mail and online.
Paper applications are distributed to license agents for each controlled hunt. Customers pay a special permit application fee. Applicants can either complete the paper application or mail the form to DNR, or they can choose to complete and submit their application over the Internet. This data is captured, quality assured, and a drawing is held to determine permit winners.
The Department of Natural Resources is maintains a 2,500,000 record database of DNR license and permit holders. Each record contains information on a person as well as all the licenses and permits issued to him/her during a year. The database is updated each time the customer makes a purchase providing new information on addresses and telephone numbers of the customer should they change (if the customer provides the change to the DNR license agent). The record contains information on currently valid licenses and permits issued to a customer. If the customer does not have a currently valid license or permit, only the customer information will be returned by the query.
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