Why It Matters: The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is regarded as the most successful conservation framework in the world. However, the Model is only successful with the necessary funding behind it. For nearly 90 years, this funding has been largely (and in some states, exclusively) driven by sportsmen and women through the “user pays – public benefits” structure of the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF). The ASCF consists of a three-tiered funding system that includes: revenue from sporting licenses and excise tax revenue from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs. However, many states have now found increased success in supplementing the contributions by sportsmen and women with alternate streams of dedicated conservation funding. This has helped to provide additional funding for state fish and wildlife agencies to make up budgetary shortfalls so that they may continue to accomplish their critical mission of managing their respective state’s natural resources, oftentimes at no additional cost to taxpayers. State fish and wildlife agencies use these dollars to manage species that hunters and anglers find solace in pursuing. Following an initial push to raise hunting and fishing license fees, Tennessee is now the latest state to begin exploring alternate funding mechanisms.
Highlights:
- Late last year, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) reported on a successful vote from the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission to raise most hunting and fishing licenses by approximately 28%, among other adjustments.
- On June 18, the license fee adjustment went before the Joint Government Operations Committee (Committee) for final legislative approval.
- Following commitments from several members of the Committee to explore alternative dedicated conservation funding for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), TWRA Executive Director Jason Maxedon withdrew the previously approved license fee increase in favor of pursuing a dedicated source of funding that does not directly increase cost on the consumer.
- Several different approaches exist to provide critical conservation funding to state fish and wildlife agencies to supplement the contributions of sportsmen and women through the ASCF.
No different than many other aspects of life in today’s world, state fish and wildlife agencies must be able to adapt and adjust to the continuously increasing cost of conducting business – for them, on the ground conservation work. From increasing inflation, rising staff salaries, providing the equipment needed for day-to-day operations, managing increasing numbers of invasive plant and animal species, and more, many state fish and wildlife agencies across the nation need additional funding to keep up. Unlike many other state agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies have a long history of being funded by their primary constituency (i.e., sportsmen and women), rather than approaching the legislature for General Fund monies.
On the heels of the Committee meeting and following commitments from multiple Tennessee state legislators, the attention now turns to exploring mechanisms to fund the TWRA and its mission of delivering on the ground conservation for all Tennesseans.
Several states around the country have unique ways of funding their respective state fish and wildlife agency outside of hunting and fishing license sales. A great example is a conservation sales tax, which Missouri successfully implemented and generates over $100 million every year. This modest alternative funding source was a 1/8th of 1% increase in tax applied to all taxable goods. Monies generated from the mechanism are then deposited into an account to be expressly used for conservation purposes.
Other notable dedicated conservation funding mechanisms include dedicated lottery funds for conservation and a dedicated sales tax on outdoor gear. States like Arizona and Minnesota dedicate annually a portion of their lottery proceeds to be used explicitly for conservation. Furthermore, a dedicated, state level sales tax on outdoor gear can provide a steady flow of conservation funding alongside the ASCF. This method is highly attractive to many states because it stays within the general (and proven successful) philosophy of having sportsmen and women as the primary funders of state-level conservation in the United States. For example, in 2018 Georgia passed the Outdoor Stewardship Act which dedicates up to 80% of existing sales tax collected by sporting goods stores to conservation through the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program under the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. This program provides a dedicated funding mechanism to support parks and trails and protect and acquire lands critical to wildlife, clean water and outdoor recreation across the state of Georgia.
CSF looks forward to working with the TWRA, Tennessee Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, and our partners to identify a much-needed dedicated conservation funding mechanism in Tennessee.
