States and outdoor groups have been stepping up efforts to retain and recruit hunters as suburbs gobble up land, the population ages and video games, social media and sports consume children’s time.
Outdoor advocates fear the country’s outdoor traditions — and the billions of dollars they pump into the economy through equipment and license sales, gas purchases, restaurant visits and hotel stays — are fading away.
The trend has even reached Wisconsin, where catching and shooting everything from muskies to turkeys is woven into the state’s identity. Fishing license sales have held relatively steady over the last decade, dropping just a tenth of a percent between 2002 and 2010. But license sales for the state’s traditional gun deer hunt dropped 9 percent between 2000 and 2009, according to state Department of Natural Resources data.
The state lowered its minimum hunting age from 12 to 10 three years ago in hopes of drawing more youngsters into the sport. The DNR also has expanded its Learn to Hunt program to offer reimbursements to hunting clubs and associations that teach children and novices about the sport and hired a shooting sports coordinator to evaluate retention efforts. The agency also is moving to upgrade state-owned shooting ranges and encourage hunters to serve as mentors for others in their families.
But Republican legislators say more must be done.
“Tradition doesn’t mean much if there’s nobody to carry it on,” Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, one of the bill’s sponsors, said during a news conference.
The legislation would slash license fees for first-time state resident hunters and trappers to $4.25. Currently, those licenses can cost up to $24 for state residents. The discount would not apply to combination licenses. Nonresident hunters and trappers applying for a license for the first time would get a 50 percent discount.
Hunters and trappers who haven’t purchased a license over the last decade would be entitled to the same discounts. License applicants who name a mentor on their applications would make those mentors eligible for a $20 license discount.
The bill would establish a half-credit for high school students who complete a DNR hunter safety program. It also would create adult-only hunting and trapping education courses in hopes of making novice adults feel more comfortable, they said.
The DNR would have to prioritize buying land where hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities would be allowed. If the DNR wanted to close land to any of those activities, the agency’s board would have to approve the prohibition by a unanimous vote. Right now closing land to outdoor activities takes only a majority vote by the board.
The governor, the DNR secretary, legislative leaders and outdoors groups would appoint a 15-member task force to advise the DNR on hunter, angler and trapper recruitment and retention.
The bill also would set up a free ice-fishing weekend after Jan. 1, they said, and drop the minimum sturgeon spearing age from 14 to 12.
The lawmakers said the measures shouldn’t cost anything, because the state isn’t collecting money from people who aren’t participating. If anything, it should boost state coffers as well as local economies as first-timers purchase licenses and buy their gear, fill up their cars with gas, rent hotel rooms and eat at restaurants on their outings.
Dean Hamilton, president of United Sportsmen of Wisconsin, called the bill “one of the best pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen.” He said he didn’t anticipate any opposition.
Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, a member of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, said he hadn’t seen the bill language, but at first glance it seemed to contain some good proposals.
“Efforts that they’ve got in here to get more people into hunting and fishing certainly fit within the broad tradition of Wisconsin’s hunting heritage,” Mason said. “There’s some good ideas in there and I look forward to fleshing them out.”
David Clausen, chairman of the Natural Resources Board, wasn’t pleased with the changes to the land-closing process. He said the board needs flexibility to provide for different land uses.
He said he didn’t immediately see a problem with offering licenses for $4.25 to first-time applicants, because the state wouldn’t be losing any money. But he wasn’t thrilled with giving license discounts to mentors.
“All of us outdoorsmen should be promoting our sport and doing it out of the goodness of our heart,” he said. “It definitely will not take a discount to motivate me.”
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress, an influential group of sportsmen who advise the DNR on policy matters, hasn’t taken an official stance on the legislation, congress vice-chair Larry Bonde said. But he said the group supports anything that boosts outdoor sport recruitment and retention.
