Nimrod Society
Perpetuating the Sportsmens' Heritage Through Education
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----NEWS RELEASE Contact: Bob Radocy Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council 303.444.4720 / bob.sportsnrectec@att.net HUNTERS AND NRA OVERLOOK EDUCATION BENEFIT OF THE NEWLY PASSED COLORADO HOUSE BILL HB-1266 Colorado Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council gets funding through HB-1266 to tell the story of hunters and anglers and their role in society to the general public. DENVER, Colo., June 1, 2005 — Governor Bill Owens signed House Bill 1266, on May 5, 2005, providing much needed funding to protect and enhance Colorado’s wildlife resources. An equally important aspect of the bill was the creation of a fund to educate the general public regarding wildlife management throughout the state. “The public education fund permanent financing created by HB-1266 has been overlooked by many sportsmen along with the National Rifle Association for its importance in protecting the sportsmen heritage by educating the public on the role sportsmen play in society and wildlife management,” said Bob Radocy, chairman of the Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC). As a result of HB-1266, PEAC will receive funding through a $.75 public education surcharge on most all hunting and fishing licenses beginning January 1, 2006. It’s anticipated that approximately $1 million will be raised annually to reach the non-hunting and non-fishing public through television, radio and print mediums. “Hunters and anglers have struggled for more than 10 years to create a proactive, public education program in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife,” Radocy said. “The majority of the public, and many sportsmen too, don’t know that hunters and anglers pay the bills for wildlife management, and it’s the creation of the permanent financing for the public education fund of HB-1266 that many people and organizations have overlooked because they have been concerned about the increase in fees for licenses and the creation of a wildlife habitat stamp.” Radocy added that PEAC supports the wildlife habitat stamp that many individuals and groups are complaining about, “In the past hunters and anglers were the paying for wildlife resources and management while others individuals such as hikers, nature watchers and environmentalists enjoyed the same benefits but without making a financial contribution to the long term preservation of resources. Now, with the habitat stamp, everyone has a stake in wildlife resources and management. It’s really a small price to pay for protecting our state’s resources.” The public education program’s permanent financing created through the recently passed HB-1266 began in 1999, with Senate Bill 214, which provided the first vehicle for funding the Wild Life Management Public Education Advisory Council’s education program by creating a “check off” contribution mechanism on Colorado Department of Wildlife (CDOW) limited license applications. The legislation also provided free limited advertising space in all CDOW license brochures for PEAC information, news, updates, solicitations and more; reaching more than one million sportsmen annually in 2000 and 2001. “Many people grumble about surcharges on licenses, but there are many sportsmen who realize the true value of educating the public,” Radocy said. “In its first three years of implementation, the voluntary program generated approximately $135,000 in contributions from almost 30,000 hunters and anglers.” Radocy added that since its inception the license check-off fundraising program for public education has generated $221,686.68, according to CDOW records; a clear indication of support by hunters and anglers. Having a formal program in place will allow for a professional, credible and consistent public education program to the residents of Colorado. “Colorado has taken a big step forward in wildlife management education and PEAC has done a great job leading the effort to put in place a funded and ongoing program to educate the public,” said Alan Taylor, chairman of the Nimrod Society (www.nimrodsociety.org), a non-profit organization of avid sportsmen working to get other states to adopt a similar model to that of PEAC’s. “Hunters and anglers are concerned about all the misinformation regarding wildlife management, conservation, hunting and fishing There are numerous groups who put out false and misleading information using emotionally based rhetoric to sway the non-hunting and fishing public without positively impacting wildlife conservation and management. Having a credible program to educate the masses, funded and executed by hunters and anglers, is a first step in protecting the rights and heritage of all sportsmen.” The Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC) was created in 1998 to design and develop a comprehensive media program to educate the public, especially the urban public, about the values of wildlife, wildlife management and how hunting and fishing are important in the wildlife. The organization was created as a result of a grassroots legislative effort led by the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Coalition (CWCC), a nonprofit, political action committee and corporation, formed in 1997, composed of sportsmen, wildlife and agriculture/livestock organizations. For more information, visit (www.wildlife-management-education.org). --------------------------------------------- NEWS RELEASE - May 23, 2005 SPORTSMEN EMBARK ON HISTORIC JOURNEY WITH VICTORY IN COLORADO OVER DEVELOPMENT OF A PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND Colorado to perpetuate the sportsmen’s heritage through an ongoing, public education program aimed at the non-hunting and non-fishing public. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 23, 2005 — “Not since the first hunting license was issued, not since the first bag limit was established, not since the first protection of the wildlife habitat by state and federal authorities was instituted, has there been such a revolutionary program created to protect the sportsmen’s heritage while safeguarding the rights and future of recreational hunters and anglers,” said Alan Taylor, chairman and co-founder of the Nimrod Society, a non-profit organization working to develop on-going public education programs in states across the country. The Nimrod Society has applauded the state of Colorado for passing a bill in May that establishes a $.75 surcharge on all hunting and fishing licenses in order to create a permanent, sustainable revenue source dedicated to public education programs in Colorado. The Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC of Colorado) anticipates that approximately $1 million will be raised annually and dedicated to educating the public in Colorado as to the positive role that sportsmen play in society through wildlife management and conservation. “Colorado is leading the way with one of the most revolutionary actions ever undertaken by the hunting and fishing community,” Taylor said. “Sportsmen have not had a coordinated voice in society to combat the misinformation and emotional rhetoric put out by animal rights organizations who have for years used the mass media to promote their ideology. These anti-hunting and anti-fishing groups spend millions of dollars each year attempting to sway the public to their views. Instead, hunters and fishermen have been supporting wildlife management and conservation through license fees and taxes for more than a century.” Taylor added that other states across the nation will have an opportunity to continue down the path that Colorado has initiated. The mission of the Nimrod Society is to encourage other states to follow the Colorado model and develop permanent financing for on-going public education programs “It’s critical that we (sportsmen) tell our story to the general public so they understand the true, credible and accurate information as to the societal values of hunting and fishing,” said Taylor. “By combating rhetoric with facts, the general public should support, or at least recognize, recreational hunting and fishing as a worthwhile pastime.” The Wildlife Management Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC of Colorado) was behind the seven year effort to get Colorado legislators to support a permanent financing mechanism for public education programs aimed at informing the non-hunting and non-fishing publics of the positive role sportsmen play in society. For more information, visit www.wildlife-management-education.org. There are approximately 47 million sportsmen in the United States. According to the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, there are more than twice as many sportsmen than there are members of labor unions in the U.S., and that sportsmen support approximately 575,000 jobs in the U.S., more than Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer. The Nimrod Society wants to protect the privileges of the nation’s sportsmen while continuing and advancing conservation and wildlife management education programs by educating non-sportsmen users of public lands and the general public o the positive role sportsmen play in wildlife conservation. The Nimrod Society is a 501 (c) 3, non-profit organization aimed at encouraging state and federal wildlife management and conservation agencies to adopt self-sustaining revenue models to fund ongoing, comprehensive media based education campaigns targeted at the general public. The Nimrod Society was formed in 2003 and refers to the biblical name of Nimrod, the founder of Babylon and “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis:10:8-12). Individuals, legislators and government officials interested in learning more about the Nimrod Society or supporting its goals should visit www.nimrodsociety.org, or contact Alan Taylor at 616-887-0400 or Bob Radocy at 303-444-4720, bob.sportsnrectec@att.net. -30- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS RELEASE - January 18, 2005 NIMROD SOCIETY FORMED TO PERPETUATE THE SPORTSMEN’S HERITAGE AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT THROUGH EDUCATION Group will work to influence government programs to educate sportsmen and non-sportsmen alike on the positive impact anglers and hunters have on wildlife management and society. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., January 18, 2005 — Hiking, biking, skiing or enjoying a picnic lunch with family on public lands would not have been possible without the revenue and support of one of the largest groups of Americans supporting wildlife management and environmental conservation — sportsmen. That’s why a group of dedicated and concerned sportsmen have formed the Nimrod Society to encourage public education programs that tell the story of the positive impact that 47 million sportsmen have on conservation and wildlife management programs in the United States. More than $108 billion is spent annually on wildlife related recreational activities according to the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These funds go toward state and federal conservation and wildlife management programs and are raised through license fees as well as state and federal taxes levied on company revenues and individual incomes from the sale of products and services to hunters and anglers. “The general public is continually misled about the role sportsmen play in our society as a result of well-funded, effective marketing campaigns by a number of organizations that spend its members’ money by pushing its ideology of animal rights and not on concrete conservation programs,” said Alan Taylor, founder of the Nimrod Society and an avid sportsman who has hunted and fished on three different continents. “We want to see states and eventually the federal government adopt a self-sustainable educational effort about the true societal value of sportsmen precipitated through a mass media communications campaign aimed at telling the truth to the American public.” Today, approximately 85 percent of all state fish and wildlife management agency budgets are a result of license fees and excise tax revenues on equipment levied on hunters and anglers. These tax revenues are a result of the 1938 Pittman-Robertson Act, which put an excise tax on hunting equipment and the taxes generated from fishing equipment as a result of the 1950 Dingell-Johnson Act and the 1984 Wallup-Breau Act. Members of the Nimrod Society will be working to encourage legislators and state wildlife agencies to add a surcharge on hunting and fishing licenses with all revenue generated to be used on comprehensive, media-based, local, state and national public education programs. The group hopes that other states can adopt a similar model to the Public Education Advisory Council (PEAC) implemented in Colorado in 1998. In 2005, PEAC will partner with the Colorado Department of Wildlife to seek legislation for a $.75 surcharge on all hunting and fishing license sales, which will generate approximately $1 million for the Colorado program annually for the direct financing of public education, public relations and marketing programs. “In Pennsylvania alone there are 2.3 million anglers and hunters and a $.75 surcharge on licenses there could generate $1.7 million in funds for a proper education program,” said Bob Radocy, a founding member and director of the board for the Nimrod Society. “This is an extremely small surcharge for sportsmen to support considering hunters spend on average $1,581 a year on their sport and anglers spend $1,046 each year in licenses, equipment and supplies.” Radocy added that 47 million sportsmen is a huge constituency; more than 13 million more people than the entire state of California. According to the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, there are more than twice as many sportsmen than there are members of labor unions in the U.S., and that sportsmen support approximately 575,000 jobs in the U.S., more than Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest employer. The Nimrod Society wants to protect the privileges of the nation’s sportsmen while continuing and advancing conservation and wildlife management education programs by educating non-sportsmen users of public lands and the general public o the positive role sportsmen play in wildlife conservation. For example, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that in 1900 there were less than 500,000 white-tailed deer in the U.S., and today there are more than 20 million, and the story is the same with antelope, elk and dozens of other species as a result of a managed program of legal recreational hunting and fishing. A few other supporting facts according to the 1999 Book “Know Hunting, Truths, Lies & Myths” written by Dr. Dave E. Samuel, also a founding member of the Nimrod Society, Ducks Unlimited – a professional sportsmen’s organization – has protected, enhanced or restored more than 6 million acres of wetlands and associated habitats since 1937. Pheasants Forever, another professional sportsmen’s organization has saved or improved 545,000 acres since 1987 and Quail Unlimited has positively impacted 500,000 miles of habitat since 1985. The list of conservation organizations made up of sportsmen is extensive and their accomplishments are the result of all-voluntary contributions. “There are a lot of hunting and fishing organizations in this country protecting and conserving lands and species, but it is a story that goes untold each year,” said Taylor. “With the funds that can be generated on license surcharges, a positive educational campaign can be conducted to help the public understand and support the role sportsmen play in modern society and thus assuring the future of sporting activities in the United States.” The Nimrod Society is a 501 (c) 3, non-profit organization aimed at encouraging state and federal wildlife management and conservation agencies to adopt self-sustaining revenue models to fund ongoing, comprehensive media based education campaigns targeted at the general public. The Nimrod Society was formed in 2003 and refers to the biblical name of Nimrod, the founder of Babylon and “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis:10:8-12). -30- |