DNRE upgrades site for online licensing system

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) has begun revamping its E-License website (www.mdnr-elicense.com) to ensure an easier and more user-friendly experience for those who buy hunting, fishing, and off-road vehicle (ORV) licenses and snowmobile trail permits online.

Starting yesterday, Tuesday, March 1, improvements were made to the 16-year-old license buying system, including easy-to-read onscreen displays, a larger font, compatibility with currently available readers for the visually impaired, and item selection layout grouped by species with expandable categories.

“(The site) will be better organized to make it a little easier for people,” said DNRE spokesperson Mary Dettloff. “The licenses will now be arranged by species. For example, all the fishing licenses will be grouped together where before the licenses were grouped by resident or non-resident.”

As people have complained in the past about having difficulty finding the exact license they needed or wanted, the DNRE wanted to make it easier for people to purchase their licenses online.

“These enhancements are part of our renewed focus on improving customer service, and will make it easier for the online user to quickly find a license or application. The behind-the-scenes upgrades will enable us to deliver licenses reliably to Michigan citizens well into the future,” said Department of Natural Resources Director-Designate Rodney Stokes in a press release. “We had the first automated license-buying system in the U.S. when we launched the current system in 1995, and now it’s time to renovate it with new technology.”

The improvements to the site are just the first of some improvements to encourage more people to buy licenses online, according to the DNRE.

“This is an important first step in making it easier for our customers to get out and enjoy Michigan’s natural resources, and we have many more improvements planned over the next five years,” Stokes said.