For those who enjoy spending time outdoors hunting, fishing, and trapping, you are likely very familiar with the process of procuring the appropriate licenses and permits to take part in your favorite outdoor activities but for the first time in years, the cost associated with those licenses and permits have gone up.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says the increase in licensing and permit fees are the first ones since 2006 for personal licenses. The new fees, which include hunting, trapping, fishing licenses and stamp fees, will go into effect for the 2022-2023 license year which runs from April 1, 2022, through  March 31, 2023. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources,

The new fees allow DFW to maintain core programs including habitat restoration, maintenance of public lands, scientific research and education, and expansion of other services to manage Indiana’s fish and wildlife for everyone to enjoy.

Funds will also go to the DNR Division of Law Enforcement to ensure it is equipped to provide public safety and enforce the laws governing natural resources.

The new license prices were determined by comparing license fees among other Midwestern states and balancing the rising costs of resource management.

 

Commercial license fees are also being increased, some for the first time in nearly 30 years. Some of the fee changes are as little as a dollar increase while some are more significant. The fees are increasing for both Indiana residents and non-resident licenses as well. To see the full breakdown of the new fees for the 2022-2023 season, visit IN.gov/DNR.

[Source: Indiana Department of Natural Resources]

40 Real Indiana Towns with Quirky, Weird, and Funny Names

Outside the major cities, the Hoosier state is full of tiny little towns you've probably passed through on your way to one of those cities. Most of them are likely 100 to 150 years old, or older, and have been around far longer than the large metropolitan areas such as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Evansville. Typically, they were started by early settlers who found their way to the state and decided to make it home. Eventually, others would join them, and a community was formed. Over time, as the surrounding areas grew, most of them were folded into those areas and governed by the nearest city or county's governing body officially making them "unincorporated," meaning they did not have their own formally organized municipal government.

A scroll through Wikipedia's long list of unincorporated communities in Indiana shows several of them have names that by today's standards would be considered weird, quirky, or just downright right funny. These are my 40 favorities.

LOOK: Here's Why Indiana is Pretty Much the Best Place on Earth [As Told by Hoosiers]

Reddit user, u/youcanneverbanme recently asked their fellow Hoosiers in the Indiana subreddit what they liked about living here. The question received hundreds of responses and the vast majority of them were positive. Of course, there were some that were negative because there are sad people who are perpetually angry on the internet and want everyone to know it for some reason, but we won't concern ourselves with those. We want to focus on the good, and when it comes to the good, there's plenty of it to enjoy.

SEE: 11 Unique Attractions You'll Only Find in Indiana

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