Hi,

In response to the inquiry about why Fish & Wildlife wants SSN and other
vitals, I encountered this a year or so back and quit buying the parking
permit because I consider it an unwarranted intrusion into my personal
privacy, etc., etc. Researched it at the time and learned that a few years
back, Congress in its zeal to catch deadbeat noncustodial parents, imposed
this little requirement on all the states. Any time you buy a "license" you
have to relinquish your SSN. This allows Child Support Enforcement to track
down the errant debtors.

Problem is, Washington categorizes the parking permit at Fish & Wildlife
sites as a license, along with fishing and hunting. There is no way I will
put my SSN into a private computer system at some store like Big 5 or over
the internet just to get a parking permit. It's nice to hear that you can
now circumvent the privacy issue by making a donation as a conservation
patron. Guess I'll check it out and sign up that way. It's a nice way to
make a dedicated, voluntary tax payment to the department of my choice.

Cheers,
Carol Riddell
cariddell at mac.com