Jon, excellent post and good points by the others in the last few posts. One point we have all been making is that this will bleed into every lake in Ct. that has a lake association and public access. There is no legal way the state can fence this sticker program into only Candlewood. If this goes through you will eventually be forced to buy stickers on any public access lake you fish. This is why I made the point it will backfire on Candlewood since everyone will buy a Candlewood sticker and it will actually increase useage.
Not collecting fees is stupid. Another reason they charge "for parking only" is liability. They do the same at Squantz Pond in the summer and only charge a few bucks per car even though they come up from the city in vans. The rationale is to avoid law suits when someone drowns by using a defense that they only charge for parking and not to use the lake. Absolutely stupid but this was told to me from right at the top of the DEP.
Now for a little emphasis. Guys who trap, hunt and fish have been defending against exclusion/elimination attempts on trapping and hunting since the 1970s. The attack on fishing is a new experience for most of you who only fish. This Candlewood sticker program is the most draconian event ever proposed, that affects the fishing community, in any state at any time, in my adult life. Most of you will do nothing about it and whine like hell when it gets passed and then duplicated on your favorite piece of water. You are about to lose the ability to fish throughout the state with free and reasonable access. This will be duplicated in other states. Towns will claim "their section" of the Ct. River. And so on. It will all be hailed as a great advancement in environmental planning, etc. but the objective was to keep you off "their" lake and if you have to use it there will be a financial burden that becomes a practical economic barrier to entry and use. If you don't take some time to understand this issue and its ramifications then you deserve what you will get. Call your state rep and state senator and tell them to vote NO and give them the reasons why and an alternative. I offered one view of an alternative in a previous post but that is only my opinion and thoughts, come up with your own too.
The Housy dumping issue last year was stopped by this site. It is that simple. People on this site made the difference because a few took the lead with a majority participating. Sticker programs on public access lakes is far more draconian than dumping crud in the Housy.
The guys on the site who live around Candlewood can well afford the 50 bucks, we will get our stickers, but we will also fight for your access to the lake to be fair and reasonable. The real losers are not us Candlewood guys, it is the rest of you. Because this deal screws you on Candlewood and will end up screwing you on every other public access lake you fish in Ct. So get involved right now so at least you can have the clear conscience that you tried to do your part to protect your interests.