FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
9/20/2006
Nationwide Survey Shows Most Americans
Support Hunting and Fishing
As the 35th annual National Hunting and Fishing Day
approaches on September 23rd to celebrate hunting and
fishing, a new nationwide survey of Americans 18 years
old and older shows that a strong majority of Americans
support hunting and fishing.
National Hunting and Fishing Day was officially
established in 1972 to celebrate sportsmen and their
role in fostering conservation and the scientific
management of natural resources and wildlife. This year
those celebrating National Hunting and Fishing Day will
also be able to celebrate at least a decade of public
support for their activities, according to a nationwide
poll.
The nationwide survey, conducted by Responsive
Management of Harrisonburg, Virginia, found that support
for hunting and fishing has remained strong over the
past decade with approximately every 3 out of 4
Americans approving of legal hunting and more than 9 out
of 10 approving of recreational fishing.
We have been seeing public support for hunting increase
in several states over the past decade where we had data
but this is the first nationwide study where we could
verify that public support has increased over the past
decade. In 1995, 73 percent of Americans approved of
hunting while in 2006, 78 percent approved of hunting.
Support for fishing nationwide, as well as in numerous
states where we have conducted studies, remains very
high, says Mark Damian Duda, executive director of
Responsive Management. Although approval of fishing has
decreased slightly, dropping only 1.7 percentage points
from 95 percent in 1995 to 93.3 percent in 2006, most
Americans approve of recreational fishing.
The results of this survey reflect the opinions of
randomly selected U.S. adult residents based on a
scientific telephone survey of 813 Americans conducted
from August 31 to September 9, 2006. The sampling error
is 3.44 percentage points.
The poll was conducted as part of two larger projectsa
book being written on sportsmen's issues by Duda, Marty
Jones, and Andrea Criscione of Responsive Management
that was commissioned by the Congressional Sportsmen's
Foundation and a study on the future of hunting and the
shooting sports under a grant from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
As Americans become more knowledgeable about the role of
hunting in wildlife management as well as how much money
hunting and fishing contributes to fish and wildlife
conservation efforts, coupled with a visible increase in
deer in urban areas and the need to actively manage
their populations, Responsive Management's research
shows that the public continues to approve of hunting.
Officials in the hunting and fishing industries are
encouraged by the public support, citing the important
role that sportsmen play in a number of areas, including
conservation and the economy. Steve Williams, current
president of the Wildlife Management Institute and
former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
noted, Sportsmen are essential to wildlife protection
and management. Game management programs, which are
funded by sportsmen's dollars, have brought back
numerous wildlife species from unhealthy population
levels, such as wild turkey, wood ducks, white-tailed
deer, beaver, pronghorn antelope, and Canada geese to
name a few. In addition, sportsmen's dollars have
purchased and managed millions of acres of fish and
wildlife habitat benefiting all fish and wildlife
species and the public who enjoy them.
Matt Hogan, executive vice president of the Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, pointed out, Public
support for hunting and fishing is crucial for
conservation efforts. State fish and wildlife agencies
have been and continue to be funded in large part by the
contributions of sportsmen and women through license
sales and excise tax payments on hunting and fishing
equipment. To put it simply, without hunters and
anglers, state fish and wildlife agencies would not be
able to do their job conserving and managing wildlife
for all Americans to enjoy.
Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American Sport
Fishing Association, commented, Hunting and fishing
have major economic impacts on the U.S. economy.
According to the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting,
and Wildlife-Associated Recreation conducted by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, sportsmen and women spend
more than seventy billion dollars on hunting and fishing
each year. Spreading that out across other sectors of
the economy, sportfishing alone annually contributes
$116 billion to the U.S. economy. Its gratifying to
know that the American public supports these activities
with such a strong cultural heritage.
Responsive Management is a Virginia-based public opinion
polling and survey research firm specializing in natural
resources, fisheries, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and
environmental issues and has been assessing public
attitudes on these issues for 18 years. Surveys are
conducted with scientific rigor according to the
standards of the Council of American Survey Research
Organizations. For more information, please visit the
firm's Web site:
www.responsivemanagement.com.
Poll Data:
Do you approve or disapprove of legal hunting? (2006)
45.4% Strongly approve and 32.2% Moderately approve
(77.6% Approve)
4.9% Neither approve nor disapprove; 1.2% Dont know
8.0% Strongly disapprove and 8.3% Moderately disapprove
(16.3% Disapprove)
Do you approve or disapprove of recreational fishing?
(2006)
68.5% Strongly approve and 24.8% Moderately approve
(93.3% Approve)
1.5% Neither approve nor disapprove
2.0% Strongly disapprove and 3.2% Moderately disapprove
(5.2% Disapprove)
Do you approve or disapprove of legal hunting? (1995)
40% Strongly approve and 33% Moderately approve (73%
Approve)
5% Neither approve nor disapprove / Dont know
11% Strongly disapprove and 11% Moderately disapprove
(22% Disapprove)
Do you approve or disapprove of legal fishing? (1995)
65% Strongly approve and 30% Moderately approve (95%
Approve)
2% Neither approve nor disapprove / Dont know
1% Strongly disapprove and 2% Moderately disapprove (3%
Disapprove)
Contact: Mark Damian Duda, Executive Director,
Responsive Management, 540-432-1888, or
mark@responsivemanagement.com.
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