MINNEAPOLIS — Fishing and hunting licenses and visiting state parks would cost a few more dollars under the Department of Natural Resources’ budget proposal, but the agency said Wednesday that the increases are necessary to prevent cuts to outdoors programs that hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans enjoy and help fuel the state’s economy.

As part of Gov. Mark Dayton’s budget proposal, the DNR proposes raising the annual resident fishing license fee from $22 to $25 and the resident deer hunting license from $30 to $34. An annual state park permit would rise from $25 to $30 per car, while a day pass would rise from $5 to $6. Fees for boats, snowmobiles and ATVs are also targeted for increases.

The last time Minnesota raised these user fees was in 2013. The proposed increases are needed to keep the state’s Game and Fish Fund and other dedicated accounts that provide 83 percent of the agency’s budget from going into the red in the next few years, DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said at a news conference.

Landwehr equated the fishing license increase to the cost of a “scoop of minnows” and the deer license change to the cost of four bullets. He said the package will hold the agency for another six years.

The commissioner said the DNR hopes lawmakers approve the increases this session because the earliest they could take effect would be March 1, 2018, when a new license year begins. Any later and staff and program cuts would become necessary. He said the increases won’t pass unless sporting groups and individuals contact their legislators and tell them that they support higher fees, he said.

“One of the challenges with fees is that it always a tough ask at the Capitol because nobody wants to raise fees, nobody wants to raise taxes, and yet that is the source of income for these programs,” Landwehr said.