A POPULAR BUMPER sticker reminds elected officials, ?I Hunt, I Fish, I Vote.?
And by participating in those first two activities I also make a significant economic contribution to the Old Dominion and the nation.
In the foreword to the recently released 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe touts a ?significant resurgence in the number of people embracing America?s Great Outdoors.?
He points out that nearly 38 percent of Americans participated in wildlife-related recreation, up 2.6 million from the 2006 survey. Hunting participation nationwide increased by 9 percent. Fishing participation grew by 11 percent. Americans spent $145 billion satisfying their outdoor pursuits, or as Ashe observed, about 1 percent of the nation?s gross domestic product.?
That number really doesn?t color in the whole economic picture, though, since money moving through an economy generates a ripple that multiplies the impact double or even triple beyond the initial expenditures for such things as gear, licenses or trips.
The 2011 survey was the twelfth in a series that began in 1955.
Preliminary numbers were released a few months ago, but the detailed breakdown of participation and expenditures by state was just revealed.
VIRGINIA NUMBERS MIXED
Overall, the 2011 survey found that 3.3 million Virginia residents and nonresidents 16 years old and older fished, hunted, or wildlife watched in Virginia. These individuals spent $3.5 billion on wildlife recreation in Virginia. Of that total, trip-related expenditures were $1.1 billion and equipment expenditures totaled $1.7 billion. The remaining $758 million was spent on licenses, contributions,?land ownership and leasing, and other items.
Virginia?s adult (age 16 and older) hunter numbers increased from 2001 to 2011 by 22 percent to 432,000, but contrary to the national trend, adult angler numbers fell by 18 percent to 833,000. Nearly 200,000 people reported both hunting and fishing.
The study also calculated the number of hunters and anglers age 6 to 15, estimating Virginia had 50,000
resident young hunters and 141,000 resident young anglers.
Resident adult hunters numbered 326,000, meaning a remarkable 25 percent of Virginia?s adult hunters are nonresidents. Resident anglers numbered 707,000.
John M.R. Bull, director of public relations for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said the decrease in people fishing the Commonwealth?s saltwater was not unexpected.
?The economy has been tough for the past few years,? Bull said. ?Gas prices have almost doubled. Fishing can be an expensive pastime when you include the cost of boat maintenance, gasoline, equipment and bait.
?It?s understandable if cash-strapped families cut back on recreational activities that may cost some money.
It?s a shame. The fishing in Virginia is excellent.? Bull continued. ?We work hard to create and maintain sustainable fisheries and to conserve the fisheries habitat so that anglers have good chances of landing some fish. That?s what our conservation efforts are all about.?
Virginia?s anglers averaged 13 fishing days and $1,237 in expenses for the year, while hunters averaged 23 days and $2,000.
All fishing-related expenditures in Virginia totaled $1.1 billion in 2011, with $379 million spent on equipment and $469 million spent on trip-related expenditures. All hunting-related expenditures in Virginia totaled $877 million, including $286 million on equipment and $297 million on trip expenses.
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries? Outreach Director Lee Walker shared much the same viewpoint as Bull, citing a struggling economy, rising fuels costs and multiple years of ?less than desirable weather conditions? as possible factors impacting hunting and fishing license sales and wildlife watching with Virginia residents.
?On the positive side, Virginia seems to remain a popular destination for out-of-state travelers helping to offset the relatively small declined from in-state license buyers,? Walker said.
Beyond the direct revenues state agencies receive from license sales, millions more in revenue comes from excise taxes on the sale of outdoors equipment. The Fish and Wildlife Service apportions funds back to the states. Incredibly high sales of firearms and ammunition in recent years have resulted in near windfall revenues from these programs.
FIRST TIME GUN BUYERS
The National Shooting Sports Association sponsored a survey of consumers age 22 to 65 who bought their first firearms in 2012 to help assess motivations for the firearm purchase and how these firearms were being used.
The top-ranking factors that triggered these first-time gun purchases were home defense (87.3 percent), self-defense (76.5 percent) and the desire to share shooting activities with family and friends (73.2 percent).
Women reported a focus on personal defense and self-sufficiency, while older first-time buyers (age 55 to 65) indicated concern that firearms may no longer be available to them.
Eighty-four percent of new gun owners report target shooting as their favored activity followed by hunting (37.7 percent) and plinking (27.4 percent). Practical pistol shooting (17.3 percent) and clay-target shooting (14.6 percent) are sports also enjoyed by first-time buyers.
Local gun shops made 43.6 percent of the sales while mass retailers such as Walmart and Cabela?s accounted for 33.6 percent.
Ken Perrotte can be reached at The Free Lance?Star, 616 Amelia Street, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, by fax at 373-8455 or email at outdoors@freelancestar.com.
For more on outdoors things to do around Fredericksburg and the region, sign up for The Free Lance-Star?s newest e-newsletter, Mighty Outdoors, at http://fredericksburg.com/topics/mightyoutdoors/about.html
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