On May 8, Arizona Legislators for Wildlife, a member of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), participated in a “Cast & Blast” event organized by the Arizona Game & Fish Department, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and a host of other supporters from the hunting and fishing conservation community.
Held at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, the event provided legislators from throughout the state with the opportunity to test their skills on the sporting clays course and at the facilities fishing pond where volunteers from Arizona Flycasters and Arizona Trout Unlimited made themselves available to provide casting lessons.
After breaking clays and hooking into some fish, legislators gathered at the Ben Avery clubhouse for a BBQ dinner. During the meal, CSF Western States Manager Andy Treharne provided attendees with an overview of the NASC program and spoke about the $2.1 billion impact that Arizona’s 786,000 sportsmen and women have on the state’s economy. Larry Voyles, Executive Director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, also provided legislators with an overview of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and highlighted the role that elected officials play in protecting the public’s wildlife resource.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
