Wildlife Councils Are the Answer

Hunting, fishing can’t survive without general public support

Today, only 5% of Americans hunt and 15% fish, yet 70% of state fish and wildlife agency operating budgets depend on hunting and fishing license sales.

Wildlife agencies are charged with managing wildlife and land held in a public trust. Simply put, this is the idea that our natural resources are preserved and managed for the public’s use and recreation. Our public resources are not sold for profit, raped and abandoned or cleared of any valuable resources. 

The revenue consequences of a declining funding base for wildlife agencies is somewhat obvious. Perhaps less obvious is the growing need for non-hunters and non-anglers to understand that hunting and fishing are essential financial drivers of state-based conservation and outdoor recreational activities of every kind.

The Nimrod Society addresses this need by encouraging states to legislatively establish Wildlife Councils whose sole focus is to provide education and fact-based marketing outreach about the benefits of hunting and fishing. 

A council’s focus is singular: Help the non-hunting and non-fishing public understand that hunters and anglers, through license sales and excise taxes, fund the bulk of conservation efforts and fuel economies, large and small, rural and urban.

Evidence from Colorado and Michigan shows that Councils are making a difference, although challenges remain. 

Despite measurable success in shifting general public perceptions, attitudes towards certain kinds of hunting are still vulnerable to well-funded misinformation campaigns by anti-hunting organizations.

These types of anti-hunting and anti-conservation campaigns have outlawed Spring bear hunting in Washington, attempted to disallow dog hunting in New Hampshire and influenced coyote hunting closures in Michigan.

All of these attacks have one thing in common: They are funded by anti-hunting organizations and include propaganda campaigns featuring lies, inaccuracies and are purposefully intended to mislead the public about the true meaning of conservation. The financial filings and business conduct of these organizations have been well documented. 

Today, the Nimrod Society is partnering with organizations like the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Rifle Association’s Hunters’ Leadership Forum to establish new Wildlife Councils and provide the facts about wildlife management and its funding. 

Yet, much work and new partnerships and collaborations are essential.

If you are interested in learning more about wildlife councils, please reach out to Nick Green at The Nimrod Society at nick@nimrodsociety.org.