Usually hunters are the punching bag for anti-hunting and animal rights groups as they assault us with their ideals of a Utopian wilderness free from any access by us vile and evil hunters. But once in awhile, we run across someone who gets it and understands what contributions hunters make toward wildlife management and conservation.

Peter Ottesen, outdoor columnist for Recordnet.com, has an article today showering hunters with the well-deserved appreciation we far too seldom get for the efforts and monies we provide for wildlife management and the conservation of species, habitat and providing protections through land acquisitions.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveyed a total of 41.2 million breeding ducks this past summer, with nearly every species - except northern pintail and scaup - flourishing at or above record high numbers.

Species of geese far exceed their goals as well, so much so that the daily limit has been increased just to keep them at levels the habitat can support. White-faced ibis, a non-game species, has increased to more than 2,500 breeding pairs in the Central Valley. Twenty years ago, there were no known ibis breeders in the state.

These kinds of success stories are prevalent all across the U.S. as we are witness to wildlife species in numbers never before seen. Ottesen explains why this is so.

The point is the nation’s hunters have taken on an expanded, essential role in wildlife management. Since 1934 they have spent $700 million on federal duck stamps to purchase more than 5 million acres of land within the national wildlife refuge system. Annually hunters spend $1.22 billion on hunting and fishing licenses and another $616 million on taxes on equipment, according to the USFWS. Those funds are doled out to states and represent an average of 75 percent of all wildlife agencies’ revenue.

And this isn’t being noticed only by outdoor writers and other hunters.

“Hunters really care about wildlife, and their efforts keep waterfowl and non-game species of birds in healthy, sustainable numbers,” said Dave Widell, general manager of the Grassland Water District, a quasi-governmental agency that distributes water only for wildlife, not for agricultural or domestic use.

“Grasslands is made up of approximately 120,000 acres of privately owned wetlands,” Widell said. “The remaining 60,000 acres is comprised of state wildlife areas and national wildlife refuges. Without hunters to pay the money and have an obsession to preserve habitat, we wouldn’t have the strong populations of birds, not in this day and age.”

The thing is, I believe that the majority of Americans know what hunters and their contributions have done. I also believe it would be great if those same people were reminded more often through media outlets, etc. instead of being subjected us all to the same old negative rhetoric about hunting.

Studies show that 80% of Americans approve of hunting even though they may not participate themselves. At the rate that hunters are going, with increased efforts to educate the public and having a greater understanding of the need to actively promote and conserve hunting habitat, etc., it would be nice to see that 80% grow to 90% before the end of the decade.

Let’s take an extra moment out of our busy day to thank someone we know who buys a hunting, fishing or trapping license and let’s promise to educate one more person this week.

Thank you to all!

Tom Remington

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