Photo Credit: Dusan Smetana
As a robust part of the $887-billion outdoor recreation economy in the U.S., hunters and anglers drive spending in local communities and fund conservation through our excise taxes and license purchases. That’s why lawmakers must prioritize investments in conservation, just as they would for other major economic sectors.
are the backbone of our hunting and fishing traditions. But over the last four decades, funding for conservation as a percentage of the federal budget has been cut in half. This is the money that pays for habitat protection and improvement on Forest Service land, National Wildlife Refuges, Bureau of Land Management acres, and private lands enrolled in Natural Resource Conservation Service programs. Quality habitat creates quality hunting and fishing opportunities, and if this trend line continues to drop, we will lose both.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is supported through royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas and helps pay for the acquisition of new hunting and fishing areas, expansion of public access, and improvements to fish and wildlife habitat.
Systematic underfunding by Congress has forced the federal agencies in charge of conservation to virtually halt active management, as available funds go to dealing with the crisis of the day, from wildfire to vandalism.
Efforts are afoot to wrest public lands from the federal government and put them under state ownership. This would result in one likely outcome: the fire sale of these lands to the highest bidder.
Recreational fishermen drive spending in coastal communities, but recreational fisheries are not currently managed for their unique values. We need alternatives to traditional federal policies designed to manage commercial fishing.
Oregon’s failure to generate revenue from the 82,000-acre Elliott State Forest has given these public lands an uncertain future.
TAKE ACTIONYou can help us tell Congress to show conservation the money. Take action below—it only takes a few clicks to send your lawmaker an email or tweet. And be prepared to hold them accountable for their votes. Sign up for TRCP email alerts to be the first to know about upcoming budget talks and funding battles—and what you can do to help. Then, get outside and take advantage of the conservation success we've already achieved. Take plenty of photos and share them with us @theTRCP.
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