On February 28, the New York Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus hosted a breakfast briefing for caucus members and staff on the economic impact of sportsmen and women in New York. Brent Miller, Northeastern States Manager for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) presented on the CSF’s recently released Sportsmen’s Economic Impact Report for New York. The Empire State boasts over 2.1 million hunters and anglers who spent $4.95 billion while engaged in their pursuits in 2011. This spending generated $623 million in state and local taxes that year, which is enough to support the average salaries of about 8,775 teachers. Following the discussion on the economic impact of sportsmen and women, Jason Kemper, Chairman of the Conservation Fund Advisory Board, presented on several key issues concerning conservation funding in New York and discussed the key role sportsmen and women play in generating these funds through the American System of Conservation Funding.
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?
