...there's some political biceps here. Good reference material for discussions with politicians and folks uninformed on the subject. Print and copy for those times when you'd prefer a stronger persuasion, but are legally bound to use words. I'd suggest having it laser engraved on a baseball bat, but that's a whole 'nother thing, there.
Could be copied and forwarded and posted, tho, if'n ya think it might stick somewhere.
Then again, you can just weep copius tears because "...nothing was done."
. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For Immediate Release
For more information contact: Brian Dowler, (803) 637-3106
NWTF CEO Outlines Economic and Political Power of Sportsmen
To view the release with photo:
http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/press_releases.php?id=12309 Rob Keck, CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation, joined other conservation leaders at a press briefing in Washington, D.C. today to highlight the powerful economic and political impact wielded by hunters and anglers.
A new report produced by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation details how America’s 34 million hunters and anglers drive the economy from big business to rural towns, spending more than $76 billion a year on hunting and fishing and directly supporting 1.6 million jobs.
According to the report, America’s hunters and anglers would rank in the top 20 list on the Fortune 500. Their spending is greater than the revenues of high-tech giants Microsoft, Google, eBay and Yahoo - combined. Sportsmen directly support 1.6 million jobs, which is twice as many jobs as the combined civilian payrolls of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
That impact may even be greater because for a variety of reasons, there are millions of hunters and anglers not documented in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
“If you count hunters and anglers who are not legally required to buy a license, because of age or other exemptions, and you also include those sportsmen who may only buy a license every couple of years, the total number of hunters and anglers reaches nearly 84 million,” said Keck. “These numbers include our next generation of conservation stewards, Americans 6 years of age and older. And even though some people may not hunt or fish every year, you can bet on this: once a sportsmen, always a sportsmen.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates there are 62.4 million Americans who fish and 21.5 million who hunt at least once every 5 years.
“Their clout in the voting booth is well documented, too, both in terms of numbers and their commitment to supporting “pro sportsmen” candidates,” Keck said. “When you have 40 million sportsmen of voting age in the U.S., and 8 out of 10 of them vote in presidential elections, you can see why the candidates have courted this huge, active voting block.”
Anyway you slice it, hunters and anglers are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups
“While hunting and fishing are generally thought of as just outdoor traditions, they actually comprise an outdoor nation - both in terms of economic impact, and in turning out the vote on Election Day,” stated Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “If the $76 billion sportsmen spend on hunting and fishing was the Gross Domestic Product of a country, sportsmen as a nation would rank 57th out of 181 countries.”
Broken down to a daily spending figure, the economic stimulus of hunting and fishing comes out to an astounding $208 million a day. This spending keeps people working: not just in typical hunting and fishing jobs, but also in gas stations, retail, restaurants and hotels throughout every state and congressional district of the USA. Of course, government coffers also benefit -- spending by sportsmen generates $25 billion in federal, state and local taxes.
The report: Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors along with FAST FACTS are available on the Web at
http://www.sportsmenslink.org <http://www.sportsmenslink.org> and
http://www.nssf.org <http://www.nssf.org> .
For more information contact the NWTF at (800) THE-NWTF or go online at
http://www.nwtf.org <http://www.nwtf.org> .
About the NWTF: In 1973, when the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded, there were an estimated 1.3 million wild turkeys and 1.5 million turkey hunters. Thanks to the work of wildlife agencies and the NWTF’s many volunteers and partners, today there are more than 7 million wild turkeys and nearly 3 million turkey hunters. Since 1985, the NWTF and its cooperators have spent more than $258 million upholding hunting traditions and conserving more than 13.1 million acres of wildlife habitat.
The NWTF is a nonprofit organization with 584,000 members in 50 states, Canada, Mexico and 14 other foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.
For more information about the National Wild Turkey Federation, call (803) 637-3106 or check out our Web site at
http://www.nwtf.org <http://www.nwtf.org> .
