September, 2000
By Matt Hogan
Good news!! Legislation has been
introduced in Congress (H.R. 3671) by Congressman
Don Young of Alaska to fix the problems with the
Pittman-Robertson (PR) program and ensure that
sportsmen’s dollars are spent as they were
intended. But wait, it gets even better! The sportsmen’s
dollars saved from the reforms in Mr. Young’s
legislation will be reinvested in the future of
hunting and earmarked to improve hunter education
and shooting ranges throughout the country.
Details
of the Legislation
H.R. 3671 provides clear guidance on what is and
what is not a permissible administrative expense
for PR program, preventing past problems of administrative
money being used on expenses other than administration
of the program. Specifically, it gives the Fish
and Wildlife Service $5 million to administer
the program rather than a percentage of all money
collected. The bill also provides another $2.5
million for States to work on wildlife issues
that cross state borders and affect a majority
of the states. Included in this section is a clear
prohibition against anti-hunting groups applying
for grants and against any uses of this money
to oppose hunting, fishing and/or trapping.
Reinvesting
in Hunting
However, even more exciting is the re-investment
of sportsmen’s dollars saved by these reforms
into the future of hunting and shooting. At the
suggestion of the Congressional Sportsmen’s
Foundation and the Archery Manufacturers and Merchants
Organization (AMO), Congressman Young earmarked
$7.5 million a year for States to for hunter education
and development (including bowhunter education)
as well as archery and shooting ranges. Earmarking
this money demonstrates a clear commitment on
the part of the Congress to ensuring the future
of hunter education and hunting.
And hunting has never needed
it more. Hunters as a percentage of the American
population continue to decline. This is particularly
true for hunters ages 12 – 24 that represent
the future of hunting. Now if you ran into another
hunter this past fall, you may feel that there
are already too many hunters. But a shrinking
hunter base means fewer dollars for important
state wildlife conservation efforts, not to mention
fewer constituents to argue for hunting programs
at the state and federal levels.
Hunter
Education in the 21st Century
Reaching new hunters in 21st century America offers
unique challenges. As most hunters know, more
kids are growing up in urban or suburban areas
where they have no identity or connection with
the outdoors. On top of that, kids today have
a number of possible activities that compete for
their (and their parent’s) time. In addition,
there are other potential new hunters, especially
women and minorities that are introduced to hunting
later in life, as young adults. Their needs from
a hunter education course are often different
than those of kids 12 to 16 years of age.
In addition to finding ways to
bring new people into hunting, we must not forget
to address the needs of current hunters. Hunting
in our modern society is different and rapidly
changing. While the days of unlimited access to
huge tracts of land may be a thing of the past,
other hunting opportunities, especially bowhunting
in urban and suburban areas, are increasing. Advanced
hunter education courses should be developed to
help hunters learn to take advantage of these
new opportunities.
Towards
the Future
The time has come to invest in the retention,
recruitment and education of hunters in America
if hunting is to continue as a sporting and conservation
activity in the 21st century. However, this new
money does not answer all the questions. We must
have a renewed commitment on the part of Congress,
federal and state wildlife agencies, conservation
and hunting organizations and industry and individual
hunters if we are to effectively meet the challenges
that lie ahead. To do anything less will be to
walk away from the commitment that our fathers
and grandfathers made to develop what is, today,
the worlds finest conservation program. |
