Why It Matters: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” This quote is widely cited by both sides of the argument as it relates to hunting and angling, particularly in recent years. With efforts to drive wildlife management at the ballot box becoming more commonplace, members of the sporting-conservation community are finally recognizing that, despite varied priorities and motivations, we are all part of the same team pulling in the same direction. This realization is critical as we fight back against efforts to undermine our time-honored traditions and protect the public support that these traditions enjoy.
Highlights:
- “Ballot-Box Biology” in the form of initiative petitions designed to force certain wildlife management decisions is becoming increasingly common as most state wildlife commissions remain committed to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
- These efforts often rely on a mixture of misinformation and slipping public support for certain aspects of hunting and angling among Americans.
- Recognizing this challenge, and utilizing strategies with proven records of success, the sporting-conservation community has an opportunity, and a duty, to come together and stand up for our rights as sportsmen and women.
With many regular sessions wrapped up across the Southwest, now is a great opportunity to reflect on recent challenges and successes. While there were certainly some challenges throughout these sessions, many within the sporting-conservation community are noticing an increasingly common trend that is taking place outside of the walls of the capitol, while carrying the same impact as legislation. “Ballot-Box Biology”, as many have taken to calling it, has become a primary avenue for those who disapprove of our time-honored outdoor traditions to undermine opportunities by relying on, and sometimes even misguiding, public perception.
While these challenges are not necessarily new, their growing use, coupled with declining public support for activities like hunting, represent a major threat for sportsmen and women. How do we overcome this?
Colorado’s Proposition 127 (2024) is a great case study to look at given its defeat on the ballot last November. Universally opposed by members of the sporting-conservation community, Proposition 127 saw a truly unified effort to ensure its defeat. This unity is a winning formula among a community with such a diverse set of priorities and motivations and will be key as additional efforts at “Ballot-Box Biology” are attempted in Colorado and around the country in future years.
Knowing that sportsmen and women have a successful defensive strategy, provided we can secure enough funding to mount a counter-campaign and are unified in our approach, how then can our community go on the offensive and reclaim the public support that our time-honored traditions once enjoyed? For years, the sporting-conservation community has sought ways to accomplish this, but our voices cannot be contained within an echo chamber of like-minded people. This is where public education can come into play. Sportsmen and women, as the original conservationists, have a truly amazing story to share, we recognize that we need to share it, and many brilliant minds are figuring out how, including through the expansion of one of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) top priorities, the expansion of Wildlife Councils for Public Education.
These marketing efforts, designed to highlight and promote the role of sportsmen and women in benefiting their communities and ecosystems, are aimed at informing the broader, non-hunting and angling public on the conservation funding, environmental stewardship, and economic impact of our outdoor heritage. Colorado’s Council serves as a strong case study for the effectiveness of these efforts. While the Council was unable to directly engage in the debate about Proposition 127, the messaging shared by the Council regarding the role of hunters as conservationists was undoubtedly helpful in defeating the measure at the ballot box. We, as a more united community, must continue to lean into these types of efforts, or we can expect to remain on our heels as more and more challenges arise.
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