Financial Returns To Industry From The Federal Aid - Wildlife and ...

If the Wildlife Restoration program were rescinded or reallocated, the direct annual loss
of $484,765,728 in state conservation grants would have to be made up in license fees
to maintain current programs. This would require an across the board increase in
hunting license fees of more than 36%! Assuming that state agencies could hold off
state-legislated diversions of these license dollars, which might be unlikely, this increase
in license fees and in the overall cost of hunting would cause a decline in hunters. This
decrease in participation would, in turn, further decrease overall sales by hunting
manufacturers and other businesses. Plus, the degradation of wildlife conservation
funding would seriously undermine long-term conservation efforts and likely destroy
what is widely regarded as the most successful wildlife conservation program in the
world!
More Wildlife Translates Into More Hunting
In simple terms, abundant wildlife populations equate to more hunting opportunities;
more hunting opportunities equate to increased purchases of hunting and shooting
equipment. For example, in 1937, 11 states had no open seasons for deer and three
others had only local seasons. Virtually all of the remaining states had far more
restrictive seasons than enjoyed today.
When comparing “Then and Now,” an obvious question is: "How large would the hunting
and shooting-sports industries be today if wildlife populations were not restored?"
An exact answer to this question is not possible, but clearly, the hunting and shootingsports
industries of today exist largely because wildlife populations have been restored
to numbers inconceivable in the early 1900s. These restored wildlife populations
provide millions of Americans opportunities to hunt a wide array of species with a
diversity of equipment that was not even dreamed about when the Wildlife Restoration
Act was passed.
Potential Hunting-Opportunity Days
The purpose of the maps to follow and the corresponding maps and detailed table in
Appendices E and F respectively is to illustrate the success of modern wildlife
management that is the result of the partnership between the hunting and shootingsports
industries, state and federal wildlife and land management agencies, and
conservation minded non-government organizations.
The precise number of hunting-opportunity days varies annually as a result of the
season- setting processes used by each state, as well as calendar-day adjustments.
Some seasons may be slightly inflated because Sundays may be included in the
calculations. However, hunting on Sunday is not legal in all states or on all lands within
a state. Readers should consult specific hunting regulations for details on hunting
opportunities available for specific species. The numbers cited are used to illustrate the
relative success of our collective conservation efforts.
Potential hunting-opportunity days were developed as a result of a careful review of
state- agency websites and the Federal Register (for waterfowl seasons). Opportunity
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