Decline In Hunters Threatens How U.S. Pays For Conservation

[Beringia]

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593001800/decline-in-hunters-threatens-how-u-s-pays-for-conservation

A new survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that today, only about 5 percent of Americans, 16 years old and older, actually hunt. That's half of what it was 50 years ago and the decline is expected to accelerate over the next decade.

Meanwhile other wildlife-centered activities, like birdwatching, hiking and photography, are rapidly growing, as American society and attitudes towards wildlife change.

[underpants]

1. Virginia's Game and Inland Fishery is fully self funded

No money out of the general fund

[CentralMass]

2. Wow. You would think that in a country with more then 393 million civilian owned firearms, there

would be more hunters.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Damn good point!

[exboyfil]

5. I think we benefit from the irregular distribution of guns

Probably better for a person to have 10 guns than ten people have 1 gun each.

[2naSalit]

4. Policy change could fix that.

Many conservation groups have, for years, made proposals to shift the funding so that they can participate in the agency policies like hunters get to. But noooo, can't do that, then they would be able to actually do something significant in the way of conserving nature rather than exploiting it all the time and only allowing the exploiters to have a say in policy matters.

[Beringia]

6. Yes, I was just going to post on that

I went to DNR (hunters) meetings in Madison Wisconsin in 2006 and 2007. Two citizens made proposals to have a fee for general public so they can have more say in management of wildlife and the resolutions failed.

[2naSalit]

7. It's a major issue

here in the Rockies.