Steven Leath. Leath is the executive director of the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, a non-governmental group that provides technical assistance to agencies in their hunter education and hunter recruitment efforts.
Leath came to CAHSS from a career in academia, which for all its focus on qualitative learning, relies heavily on quantitative metrics. When I was running big organizations, I expected and generally had robust data dashboards.
In the university system, if I wanted to know the latest enrollment numbers, I pushed a button and a dashboard would populate a spreadsheet on my computer. I could then use that real-time data to inform my decisions. In that role, he recognized the value of a tool that tracked fishing license trends. In years when salmon and steelhead runs are weak, fishing license sales tank. But the tool also revealed first-time license buyers and identified lapsed anglers, or folks who went a year or two between buying a fishing license.
They can remind hunters to renew licenses, or they can alert hunters of CWD in a certain hunting district. They can alert hunters in a certain county of a new access property, or invite them to a public meeting or a conservation banquet. This is the potential. So keeping customers buying hunting and fishing licenses is very much in the interests of biologists, wildlife technicians, administrators, and even the IT folks who compile the raw numbers that feed the data dashboards.
As anyone involved in marketing can tell you, data drives decisions. You participate in this data collection every time you use social media, whether you know it or not. Every click you make predicts with increasing certainty what your next click will be. But one of the few segments of the modern conservation economy that eludes this reliance on marketing is license sales.
Anglers respond to reminders, which is why one of the first dashboards deployed in the outdoors industry reported fishing participation. Good data guides decisions like how to effectively recruit new participants, and then measure the success of those efforts. The greatest increases in participation—10 percent—were seen in the Great Lakes area.
Hunting participation dropped by about 2 million participants, but still remained strong at However, expenditures for related items such as taxidermy and camping equipment experienced a percent uptick, and hunting trip-related expenses increased 15 percent.
Some of our wildlife refuges have great mentored hunting programs. I'd like to see these programs replicated and expanded across the country, and reach into areas where kids don't traditionally get the opportunity to hunt, fish, and connect with wildlife. Some of my best family time growing up and raising my own kids was hunting an elk, enjoying a pheasant, or reeling in a rainbow. These are the memories and traditions I want to share with future generations.
Findings show there are more than 32 million target shooters using firearms and The hunting and shooting sports community is grateful for an Administration that recognizes the economic, recreational, and traditional values of hunting and target shooting," said John Frampton, President and CEO of the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports.
As a partnership effort with states and national conservation organizations, the survey has become one of the most important sources of information on fish and wildlife recreation in the United States. Federal, state, and private organizations use this detailed information to manage wildlife, market products, and look for trends.
You may also like: Can you answer these real 'Jeopardy! Funding for natural resource protection is on the decline in Arkansas due to the decreasing number of fishing and hunting licenses, Leslie Newell Peacock writes in the Arkansas Times.
In the state passed Amendment 75 , which imposed a conservation tax of one-eighth of a cent to make up the difference. According to the Detroit Lakes Tribune, other changes include more elk seasons and license options, which will be used to help manage the rising elk populations in the state.
In June , Tennessee passed a law lifting restrictions on family members who want to hunt or fish on family property. Under the new law, family members will not need a hunting or fishing license when participating on farmlands owned by a spouse, parent, or grandparent. Adrian Mojica writes in Fox Nashville that the permission trickles down to grandchildren, great-grandchildren, spouses of children, and spouses.
Alabama hunting is yet another victim of the rise of urbanization. A beloved tradition among older generations, it is one that is not picked up as quickly by the younger ones. According to Corky Pugh of the Yellow Hammer News, the decline is also driven by changing social trends.
Another factor is the rising cost of hunting in the state overall. Hunting license sales dropped in every Vermont county between and The reason? Rising urbanization, changing attitudes, aging population, and declining rural populations. The decrease in sales started happening back in and has continued ever since.
You may also like: U. Air Force by the numbers. To combat the decline in hunters, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has set out to recruit new hunters through a pilot project that pairs novices with experienced mentors.
According to The Portland Press Herald, other states have tried similar programs, and Maine has offered the option for veterans in the past. This is the first time it has been open to the public.
According to Chris Lawrence in Metro News, while the number is high compared to the rest of the states, it still threatens the future of the wildlife model in the state. A team has been organized to help with recruiting and retention of new hunters and other outdoor pursuits. Tony Evers made the decision to close hunter safety courses in Oneida County.
In June , the Trump administration overturned an Obama-era ban on certain hunting and trapping styles on Alaskan national preserves. The rule , which went into effect in July , allows hunters to use certain techniques for hunting and trapping, like artificial light to hunt black bears cubs included in their dens. The National Park Service says tribal leaders, as well as hunting groups, support the new rule. Oklahoma is one of the states in the nation that allows for the hunting of black bears.
In , the state increased the number of counties that permit the practice from four to This was the first expansion of the open area for black bear hunting since it became permitted in You may also like: Where every U.
Idaho is another state bucking the downward hunting trend. In fact, according to data from the U. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho hit a record-high number of paid license holders in The deer hunting season in North Dakota appears to have missed the mark. The dip in numbers has to do with the increase of farmland and oil development.
Both have created access issues to hunting land and loss of wildlife habitat. Grizzly bears are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The NRDC overwhelmingly believes that grizzlies should continue to be protected.
According to the Gillette News Record, hunting license figures have remained stable year over year. Wyoming hunting allows for elk, deer, antelope, black bear, wolves, mountain goat, bison, sheep, and more. Even though South Dakota has the highest percentage of paid hunting license holders per capita, it is still one of the states in the nation struggling with hunting decline.
Money from hunting sales contributes to half of the budget of the State Department of Game, Fish and Parks. You may also like: Origins of the 50 most popular dog breeds. In your state. Written by: Meagan Drillinger.
Republish this story. States with the most registered hunters. Rhode Island. New Jersey.
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