Posted on 03/29/2008 1:28:03 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
STOWE, Vt. (AP) - Bob Shannon is an avid hunter, a fishing guide and owns a tackle shop, but he sometimes struggles to get his own son out into Vermont's woods and fields.
"He'll be sitting there with the video games," Shannon said of 9-year- old Alexander. "I finally had to lay down the law last summer: 'If it's a nice day, you're outside.'"
Shannon's challenge reflects a larger problem plaguing many state governments: Revenue from hunting and fishing license sales is plunging because of waning interest in the outdoors.
"We're losing our rural culture," said Steve Wright, a regional representative for the National Wildlife Federation. "There are so many distractions, and we're not recruiting young people into hunting and fishing."
Sales of Vermont hunting and fishing licenses have dropped more than 20 percent over the last 20 years, leaving the Fish and Wildlife Department pleading with lawmakers for extra funding.
Other states report similar drop-offs:
_Arkansas hunting license sales dropped from about 345,000 in 1999 to about 319,000 in 2003.
_Pennsylvania sold about 946,000 hunting licenses in 2006, down from just over a million in 1999, and a peak of 1.3 million in 1981.
_Oregon had 100,000 fewer licensed anglers last year than in 1987, and 70,000 fewer licensed hunters.
_West Virginia sold 154,763 resident hunting permits in 2006, a 17 percent decrease from 1997.
The trend means trouble for some fish and wildlife agencies, which use license revenue to finance preservation programs for endangered species like peregrine falcons, bald eagles and loons. Game wardens also help with law enforcement, joining searches for lost hikers and skiers.
In the search for new sources of revenue to support fish and wildlife programs, Vermont lawmakers are weighing legislation that would dedicate part of the state's sales tax revenues to the Fish and Wildlife Department.
"The issue here is that most of our fish and wildlife agencies were set up to fund conservation, based predominantly or entirely on one set of users"—hunters and anglers who pay license fees, according to Dave Chadwick, senior program associate with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Washington.
"They're shouldering the whole burden for a benefit and an amenity that we all enjoy," Chadwick said.
Other fundraising strategies range from sales taxes on outdoor sporting goods, as in Texas, to Florida's surcharges on speeding tickets, said Douglas Shinkle, a policy associate at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Some states are trying to boost efforts to recruit new people—especially young people—into hunting and fishing.
A West Virginia legislator has proposed offering hunters' training courses in public schools, allowing seventh- through ninth-graders to opt for instruction in topics ranging from survival skills to gun safety.
Arkansas has used some of its dedicated sales tax revenue to recruit new hunters. However, the state's hunter education program graduated 11,891 people under 30 years old last year, down from 16,596 in 1998.
Vermont sponsors youth hunting weekends, typically three a year. Oregon has started youth mentoring programs that match kids up with experienced hunters. Minnesota has two staff members reaching out to the state's burgeoning Southeast Asian population, said Jay Johnson of the state Department of Natural Resources' hunter recruitment and retention program.
Wright said it might be an uphill battle because of everything from video games to the growth in structured activities like team sports and music lessons.
But Shannon said he has met with some success. After he laid down the law with Alexander last summer, the boy went out fishing almost every morning, he said.
I don’t know if the article is completely correct. Judging by the number of Cabelas and Bass Pro shops that have opened in recent years, it seems that interest is growing.
Not in thishere family!
("Daddy, ken we go to show-der ["soldier"] store?")
Much like kids don’t ride their bikes anymore because they can’t do so without complying with a laundry list of silly laws, hunters don’t really want to navigate the Gestapo state DNR craziness anymore.
“We’re losing our rural culture,”
The suburbanization of America continues...........
Came from Vermont, what would you expect from up there. All the outdoor, fun loving freedom inspired people have moved here down south.
They are both wonderful stores, but when I've been there it seemed that far more people were at the checkout counters purchasing clothing rather than fishing or hunting equipment.
I went to High School in New Jersey in the 60's and we had a Hunting and Fishing club. I doubt that there is a single school today in New Jersey that has one.
Heard on news this morning: didn’t catch where, but a place where game is harvested for donation to food center for needy is finding the food center is refusing game now because of worry over lead contamination.
Here in Alabama it’s hard to find good land to lease...public hunting land leaves a lot to be desired...if you got $$$$ ,no problem.
Effem.
All the small shops were forced to close because they can't compete on prices. You can't keep the doors open selling worms!
I purchased a bike last year for my daughter at college. She then informed me that she’d get fined for not having a helmet and pads. I told her to send me the fines. She does.
After all that, you didn’t send the state a towing bill? You could have come out way ahead.
Good. Once the crowds thin out I might take up fishing again.
Yeah, can’t say I’m too interested in fish droppings.
The alternatives in terms of electronic games and entertainment have an impact but I think these other factors do as well.
I would hunt if we could hunt prey like Lynne Stewart, Moussoui and John Walker Lindh.
You bet...Another reason we quit going to ball games...After the parking, tickets a few beers and hot dogs...I found I'm spending $150 to take the kids to a stupid ball game.
I just stopped doing it. I sold my boat too...To many fees, permits, registrations, regulations, taxes...
Same with flying, ham radio, camping, etc.
It isn't a lack of interest on my part. Most a lack of opportunity.
A neighborhood game of baseball sure beats watching one.
The last time I was pilot in command of a Cessna 150 was July 18, 1983. Since becoming a homeowner, I simply can't afford to fly anymore. I've been living with my old IC-22S 2m rig and IC-2AT handheld. The Atlas 215-XL has remained in the basement for want of time to put up antennas. After the move to Idaho, the power cords for my old Yaesu FT-221 were lost. I had to order the special Cinch-Jones plugs to mate with the radio to make new power cords. The order took 10 months to fill. The radio is back in business, but I'm less than motivated to sit in the basement and yack with the small number of hams locally. My Extra Class license isn't getting much of a workout.
Wait a second- do you mean to tell me there are places where wearing helmets while riding a bicycle is MANDATORY??
Geesh..
Me neither, hope not. But I'll offer this...my 13 year old just got his hunter safety card last November and the instructors said the class size was a record high number of applicants.
During good weather as a kid I logged 40 miles a day on many occasions, just riding around in my neighborhood. Sunrise to sunset we were all on the roll. A comlete army of kids could be mobilized with a few loud shouts and an idea of something to do.
Not anymore.
Filled up the o’l Cherokee last week. Av gas was $4.30. My flying time is limited to night IMC for the most part now. No sense logging VFR time at what it costs to fly now. I flew a q-tip P-Baron last month. I had to pay for only the fuel. It cost me $560 for a few hour trip.
What a dickweed
I’m still active in both. Aviation is taking off with new technologies and companies and ham is too. We ven have EchoLink for ham radio. If you haven’t heard about it, it is simply an Internet based ability to link yourself to other repeaters and radio worldwide.
No where in the article is the mention of too much regulation or higher costs due to too many permits/licenses. We can’t even take a walk on a state trail here in WI without paying a $3 trail fee (On trails already supported by the public tax dollar), sheesh!
I have interest in fishing and hunting, but not in dropping!
I would have been tempted to shot the ahole.
Come to Texas
Amen. Ditto in Virginia. I have a small lease in South Carolina, where it’s still relatively affordable.
Maybe it is because a decent deer lease starts at about $1500...
for most people, hunting and fishing require a considerable amount of free time. I used to love both but then got married, had kids and the free time just isn’t available like it used to be.
A lot of it has to do with availability of land. Maryland is developing so fast that land I hunted on 5 years ago is now a subdivision with million dollar homes(some now facing foreclosure).
Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
- Yogi Berra
A guy I work with is an avid hunter/trapper/fisherman. He proved to me by doing the math with DNR numbers supplied on bear permits that each bear shot nets the state $790,000.
Maybe it is because a decent deer lease starts at about $1500...
just barely decent.....
Same here. But not hunting doesn’t mean getting rid of one’s guns.
My 30-06 Parker Hale is now classified by the U.N. as a “medium range sniper weapon” and should be banned.
My Remington 870 is now classified by the U.N. as “a high capacity short range urban assault weapon” and should be banned.
And we already know that the U.N. thinks that all handguns, or any other firearm type, in American hands, should be banned.
In other words, keep the guns and shift the focus. See ya at the range!
That's exactly right! It used to be that hunting was something the you just did. Game belonged to "the people".
Now hunting is permitted at the sufferance of the state. Game no longer belongs to the people. It belongs to the government. And the government regulates it to death while squeezing every penny it can out of "the people" who wish to hunt.
As far as government is concerned, hunting is another revenue generator and wedge to expand its power. Just part of an overall trend of government seizing everything bit by bit.
Welcome to the Old World!
Don't tell me I need to move my centerfire rifles from the safe into a well oiled flower bed.
Not where I come from... (see profile).
Maybe it’s because most people I know who had free time to do these things in the past are working their asses off now to basically survive and pay every kind of tax imaginable.
A big component is that in wealthier suburban areas (which is most of the country, really) hunting and fishing are perceived as weird redneck activities, now.
Not that there are no outdoor activities, it’s just that they’re “cool” stuff like hiking, rockclimbing, snowboarding, etc. You’re never going to see a Mountain Dew commerical with someone hunting or fishing.
Bookmarking.
Absolute truth, in Virginia is is fast getting to the point to where only the crooked cops think they have hunting rights.
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