Hunters contribute billions to conservation efforts

Hunting for conservation

Whilst hunting in the US does undoubtedly contribute huge amount of $$$ to conservation, it still appears that to most hunters, and a large number of wildlife officials, hunting is the main, if not only, reason to conserve wildlife. Earlier in 2011, thousands of pronghorn died in a particularly harsh winter, the major slant of the media coverage in North America was that it was bad news for hunters as they would not be allowed to shoot so many pronghorn in 2011. 

Photo credit Kevin Johnson

 This is a common theme in North America.  Just go to the websites of any of the state conservation authorities, and see what the coverage is all about - Probably 95% hunting & fishing, with actual wildlife and conservation a mere afterthought, if that.

• Arizona Game and Fish Department 
• Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
• Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Birdwatching alone contributes $30 billion per year to the US economy

According to a US Fish and Wildlife Service report, birdwatching alone contributed $36 billion to the US economy in 2006, yet this hardly gets a mention when compared with coverage of how to shoot birds. Much of this psyche goes back to the fact that all US citizens have the right to carry a gun and that most 'wildlife refuges' were set up for hunting, but surely it is time for a change in priorities.

US Conservation - Funded by hunting
September 2011. The largest and possibly most successful wildlife conservation program in the world, the US Federal Wildlife Restoration Program, is fuelled by hunters.

Over the past 70 years, hunters nationwide have contributed more than $6.8 billion dollars to wildlife conservation efforts. In Georgia alone, since 1939, hunters have contributed more than $145 million for wildlife conservation in Georgia.

"The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program is the most successful wildlife conservation program in the world and serves as a financial cornerstone to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. It benefits all wildlife species, conserves and restores habitat and helps enhance wildlife conservation through research," said Alex Coley, Wildlife Resources Division Game Management assistant chief and Federal Aid Coordinator. "Through this program, America's hunters continue to provide the most substantial source of funding for wildlife conservation and management in the United States."

The program was established through the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937. Through lobbying efforts in Congress, America's hunters created this act as a way to fund conservation and management of the nation's wildlife. Wildlife Restoration funds are accumulated from excise taxes on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment.

This excise tax is levied at the manufacturer's level, collected by the Federal government, and distributed to state wildlife agencies to fund wildlife conservation and management programs. The amount of money each state agency annually receives is determined by the number of paid hunting licenses and the land area of the state.

The Wildlife Resources Division uses Wildlife Restoration funds for various types of programs, including restoring habitat and improving wildlife populations, conducting research, monitoring wildlife populations, operating more than one million acres of wildlife management areas that benefit a diversity of wildlife species and provide wildlife-related recreational opportunities, providing information to landowners on how to manage their property for various species, conducting hunter education classes and building and maintaining public shooting ranges.