On July 5, more than 30 leading sportsmen’s conservation groups, including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in support of the proposed 2018-2019 Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations.
These proposed regulations would open and expand hunting and fishing opportunities on 30 refuges spanning 248,000 acres. This proposal will result in an estimated increase of 17,575 use days while generating an additional $711,000 in recreation related expenditures.
The National Wildlife Refuge System spans over 146,432,080 acres on nearly 600 National Wildlife Refuges, and collectively supports a $2.4 billion recreation industry. Currently, there are more than 360 refuges that are open to hunting, and more than 300 refuges are open for fishing opportunities.
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?
