Chad Love: Hunters and Anglers Don’t Get Conservation Credit

October 20, 2009

No one knows better than hunters and anglers the frustration of getting zero credit or recognition for their contributions to conservation efforts. We're used to being ignored by the media, the general public and most politicians.

But now it seems we're also being ignored by scientists. Here's a story that summarizes a recent study on the demographics of those most and least likely to financially support conservation.

From the story:

Serious hikers and backpackers tend to become supporters of environmental and conservation groups while casual woodland tourists do not, a new study says...The researchers found that the amount of time one spent hiking or backpacking in nature correlated with a willingness, 11 to 12 years later, to financially support any of four representative conservation organizations: the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club or Environmental Defense."

And here's the kicker...

"Surprisingly, the more time one spent fishing or sightseeing in natural areas, the less likely that person was to support these particular conservation causes. "Apparently not all outdoor recreation is equal in terms of who is going to be an investor in conservation," (study co-author) Zaradic said."

Now first off, I'm not going to deride any of the organizations mentioned in the story. They're all good organizations that do good work. But they are hardly a true representative cross-section of the environmental/conservation movement. There are literally hundreds of national, state and local organizations that are out there doing the same thing as the four groups mentioned, and often doing it more effectively. And when you factor in all the hunting and fishing/based organizations that do conservation work you have a huge pool of potential venues in which to donate time or money.

So right off the bat the study's tiny sample size is going to skew the results. But what's truly amazing to me is the sweeping generalization that "the more time one spent fishing...the less likely that person was to support these particular conservation causes."

That statement is so painfully obvious it deserves a huge "well, no s**t!"

Seriously, why would an angler - you know, a person who enjoys and cares about fishing - give money to the Nature Conservancy or the World Wildlife Fund and watch his donation go overseas to purchase a nature preserve or do conservation work in some other country when he can give the same money to, say, Trout Unlimited, and see that money put to work here?

And of course the study fails to mention the economic and conservation impact of the billions collected through Pittman-Robertson and Wallop-Breaux. Yes, it's true that way too many hunters and angler use Pittman-Robertson and Wallop-Breaux as a crutch and an excuse for their political apathy and inaction. Paying a few cents tax on your jerkbaits and bullets does not automatically make you a conservationist and doesn't give you a free pass to do absolutely nothing, but I often wonder if the authors of these kinds of studies are even aware of the financial contributions sportsmen make to conservation.

So when the study's co-author states "apparently not all outdoor recreation is equal in terms of who is going to be an investor in conservation" I guess it's true: some of us are investing a helluva lot more.

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from Clay Cooper wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago

Freeloaders always get all the praise and the glory of those who sacrificed for what is so great!

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from stutzman.21 wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago

Much of the money from hunting and fishing license sales goes towards conservation as well.

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from WVOtter wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago

Exactly stutzman, I can promise you the "good nature" of hikers and backpackers (of which I'm one too, so not condeming the whole) would plumit if they had to pay the same licensing fees we do for our sports, even if it went to conservation efforts. Meanwhile, hunters/anglers pay annually toward these efforts and then some...not to mention first hand efforts to clean up and educate.

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from MCrawdad wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago

Here in VT we're trying to get broad-based sustainable funding for our Fish & Wildlife Dept., which works on a whole host of flora and fauna that is not a "game" species. Hikers, birdwatchers, etc. all benefit from the work of the department - which is great - but they don't pay a dime.
Yet. In places like Missouri and Arkansas they figured this out a while ago.

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from ingebrigtsen wrote 4 weeks 1 day ago

i pay enough in obvious and hidden fees to make my hunting in square yards use a viable alternative to farming.. and if your too blind to see the advantage of that then u dont deserve the title conservationist.. its all about economics, cos the majority of the natural world is privately owned :P

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from suburban bushwacker wrote 4 weeks 1 day ago

Chad
Someone needs to 'get 'em on the phone and find out'
I nominate ....you
SBW

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from hal herring wrote 4 weeks 1 day ago

From RMEF's Bugle mag (and the Elk Foundation has protected more than 5.6 million acres of wildlife habitat):

"It was the sale of Duck Stamps that bought 5.2 million acres of the Federal Wildlife refuge system that now is estimated to shelter one out of three of every species on the Threatened or Endangered Species lists. Taken together, the Pittman-Robertson taxes, the sale of state and federal waterfowl stamps, and the revenue from hunting and fishing license sales contribute an estimated $4.7 million dollars every day to conservation."

Ducks Unlimited has protected 12.5 million acres of wetlands.

DU, Pheasants Forever and other hunting organizations have fought to protect the federal CRP program which has benefited every kind of wildlife and birds.

As far as being advocates for wildlife and habitat, there has never been a force as powerful as American hunters and fishermen. I'm glad you wrote this piece Chad, because somehow, we've got to keep this thing we love rolling, and we've got to make sure that non-hunters know how it works now, so they can help us.

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from 86Ram wrote 4 weeks 1 day ago

Guess they never heard of the following:
NWTF
DU
Delta Ducks
Quail Unlimited
Pheasants Forever
Whitetails Forever
RMEF
Hunters
Fisherman
Leoupold
Roosevelt
& So many others.
Who do they think is out hiking, Camping and enjoying the outdoors?
Some suit wearin city couple with their manicures, pink (salmon) colored shirts and AWD Hyundais or other foreign car. Their version of roughing it involves a motorhome, camper or hotel room.