The 2008 National Hunting and Fishing Day is Saturday, Sept. 27. New York's 1.2 million hunters and anglers, seldom considered the major economic and political factor they represent, are among the most prominent and influential of all demographic groups, spending more than $1.8 billion a year on hunting and fishing, and this is "their day."
Hunting and fishing is deeply entrenched in our area, thanks primarily to our past generations of rural lifestyles, abundant fish and game habitat and ready access to both activities. Although hunting license sales have declined in recent years, there's a spike in sales occurring this year – up about 75,000 from last year year, and about 20,000 above 2006. Perhaps it's the result of a lowering of the mandatory age to hunt deer, possibly aided by the area's depressed economy and high unemployment rate, meaning some have more free time and also want to supplement their food bill with fish and game they harvest themselves. But, make no mistake that hunting and fishing's economic impacts, both locally and statewide, remain major factors through both good and bad times.
Spending by the state's hunters and anglers directly supports 28,000 jobs, which puts $1 billion worth of paychecks into pockets of working residents around the state. Of course, government also benefits – spending by sportsmen in pursuit of these outdoor activities directly generates $250 million annually in state and local taxes. These latest figures demonstrate that, season after season, hunters and anglers are driving the economy, from big cities to rural towns, through booms and recessions. But that wasn't always the case.
Over a century go, hunters and anglers were the earliest, most vocal supporters of conservation and scientific wildlife management. Because they were often on the waters and in the woodlands, they were the first to recognize and understand that rapid development and unregulated uses of wildlife and habitat were threatening the future of many species.
Spearheaded by fellow sportsman and President Theodore Roosevelt, these early conservationists called for the first laws restricting the commercial slaughter of wildlife. They urged sustainable use of fish and game, created hunting and fishing licenses, and lobbied for taxes on sporting equipment to provide funds for state conservation agencies. These actions were the foundation of the North American wildlife conservation model, a science-based, user-pay system that would foster the most dramatic conservation successes of all time. Thanks to these efforts, populations of many wildlife species such as deer, elk, antelope, wild turkey, ducks and numerous other species, both game and non-game, began to recover from decades of unregulated exploitation, overharvesting and habitat loss.
During the next half-century, in addition to the funds they contributed for conservation and their dedication over the returning the health of America's outdoors, sportsmen worked countless hours to protect and improve millions of acres of vital habitat, lands and waters for the use and enjoyment of everyone and not just themselves.
Hunters and anglers first tried to promote the era's heightened environmental awareness in the 1960s, but were discouraged that so many people didn't understand the crucial role sportsmen had played in the conservation movement. Unfortunately, many people are still ignorant of that fact. Without hunting and fishing's necessary supportive roles and funding, conservation, and fishing, wildlife and habitat management would be hamstrung or possibly nonexistent.
The first to suggest an official day of thanks to sportsmen was Ira Joffe, owner of Joffe's Gun Shop in Upper Darby, Pa. In 1970, Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond Shafer adopted Joffe's idea and created "Outdoor Sportsman's Day" in the state.
