Americans' participation in outdoor recreation and purchases of related equipment, especially firearms and ammunition, continued at high levels last year and led to a record $1.6 billion in 2023 spending from the Wildlife Restoration Program and Sport Fishing (WSFR), US Fish and Fish. The wildlife service announced last week.
Wisconsin's distribution fee is also a record at $46.8 million, up from $43.7 million in 2022 and $32.4 million in 2021.
The money comes from excise taxes and duties on firearms, ammunition, some fishing and archery equipment, and motorboat fuel.
Funds are distributed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to states through laws such as the Federal Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 (commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Act) and the Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950 (the commonly known as Dingell). )-Johnson Law).
The federal government collects the excise tax from producers and, based on a formula that includes geographic extent and the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold, distributes the excise tax to the various 50 US states and territories.
The state-industry-federation partnership was created almost a century ago with the support of sportsmen, industrialists and environmentalists and has proven to be one of the most effective tools in the world, according to the service.
"This partnership is vital to wildlife and habitat conservation and outdoor activities across the country as it helps our state partners create recreational access opportunities and monitor and manage wildlife and wild places," said Martha Williams, director of Service 2023 in the announcement of the year. prices. .
Since 1937, the Service has made more than $27 billion in annual distributions to state conservation and public access programs, matching nearly $9 billion in grants from recipient fish and wildlife agencies, according to federal records.
With these combined funds, the agencies have supported the cultivation of one billion fish, managed and monitored more than 500 species of mammals and birds, provided hunting training to 1 million students, and constructed or renovated more than 850 target areas, depending on the service. .
No state receives more than 5% or less than 0.5% of the total funds available. Grants typically fund up to 75% of project costs, and most recipients are required to provide an equivalent share of up to 25%, usually from revenue from hunting and fishing licenses.
For 2023, the Wildlife Recovery Fund provided $1.2 billion (a 7% increase from 2022), while the Fish Recovery Fund raised $425 million (a 6% increase).
In Wisconsin, funds are received and used by the Department of Natural Resources for a variety of wildlife and fisheries management, site improvements, hunter education, and recreational boating access.
For 2023, Wisconsin's budget is $33.8 million for wildlife restoration (+7% over 2022) and $13.1 million for fish restoration (+8%).
The Wildlife Restoration Program raises funds through excise taxes on the sale of rifles and carbines (11%), ammunition (11%), archery equipment (11%) and pistols (10%). The Sport Fish Recovery Program is funded by a 10% excise tax on fishing rods, reels and tackle and a motorboat fuel tax.
Annual gambling surcharges have continued to rise in recent years, largely due to significant increases in gun and ammunition sales, according to reports.
The WSFR program is considered the bulwark of US conservation funding and dates back to the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937.
Even as the country struggled to recover from the Great Depression, hunters and manufacturers banded together to create a self-imposed gun and ammunition tax to help fund conservation programs.
The "user pays, user benefits" strategy was later adopted by the fishing industry through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 and by the cruise industry through the Wallop-Breaux amendment of 1984.
Cash flow to wildlife restoration tripled from $384 million in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2023 as sales of arms and ammunition hit a record high. Meanwhile, fish recovery funds have increased more modestly, from $350 million in 2012 to $425 million in 2023.
For more information, visit fws.gov.
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This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Wisconsin will receive record funding for wildlife and fish recovery on the 23rd.
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