Sportsmen's Role in Wildlife Conservation
Early conservationists, many of them avid hunters and anglers, saw the rapid decline and plight of numerous species in the late 1800s through the early 1900s due to unregulated market hunting and habitat loss. Through the efforts of leaders like President Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold and John Muir as well as the establishment of sportsmen’s organizations, they helped pave the way for today’s system of science-based, regulated wildlife management (of which hunting and fishing play an important role) to ensure sustainable wildlife resources for future generations.
Sportsmen and women shoulder the primary costs of maintaining our great outdoors for ALL to enjoy. Hunting and angling are the cornerstones of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, and these activities continue to be the primary source of funding for conservation efforts in North America.
Recognizing the need for a permanent source of funding for professional wildlife management, some visionaries helped build unique partnerships between sportsmen, anglers, shooters, boaters, private industry and federal and state agencies to establish dedicated funding sources for wildlife and fisheries conservation.
The Wildlife Restoration Program and the Sport Fish Restoration Program are two of the most successful conservation programs in our nation’s history. They reflect this farsighted partnership.
| Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman–Robertson Act) | Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act (combines the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 and the Wallop-Breaux amendments in 1984) | |
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Since 1939, state fish and wildlife agencies have received over $65.1 billion from sportsmen and women. (Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, 2020)
The funding is distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to state wildlife agencies through the Wildlife Restoration Program and Sport Fish Restoration Program on a match basis. When combined with states’ sales of hunting and fishing licenses, this cumulative funding provides the bulk of support for on-the-ground projects that benefit fish and wildlife conservation and provide hunting, angling, shooting, boating and related wildlife recreation opportunities for the public.
Though past conservation efforts have focused on hunted species, nonhunted species reap the rewards as well. Protecting wetlands for ducks, forests for deer and grasslands for pronghorn have saved countless nonhunted species from peril. Regardless of whether one chooses to actively participate in hunting or angling, people interested in wildlife and its future should understand the conservation role sportsmen and women play.
When you purchase firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing gear and motorboat fuels, along with your purchase of hunting and fishing licenses, you are part of this cycle of success.