Hunters Have Supported Conservation and Wildlife Management in Missouri and the United States Since 1937

The November National Geographic magazine came in the mail to my home today.

There is an article on page 112 about "Hunters for love of the land."

Hunters in the United States, and also in Missouri, have been strong supporters of conservation and fish, forest, and wildlife management since 1937.

In the article on page 126 is a chart that indicates that 75 percent of the revenue for state wildlife agencies comes from license sales and federal excise taxes. The excise taxes are from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration programs. The federal wildlife program began in 1937 to help states manage wildlife and to implement conservation management activities.

Many people talk about conservation or what should be done. Hunters have put their money on the table for over 70 years for fish, wildlife, and habitat management. In many states, hunters and anglers have been and continue to be the folks that pay for conservation.

Only Missouri and Arkansas have state sales taxes dedicated to conservation. Several other states have a variety of other methods to help fund conservation, including income tax check-off opportunities and other methods. In Missouri, no other general revenue from the state is used for the Department of Conservation.

Missouri was the first state, in 1976, to have a majority of the residents recognize the need to have long-term and stable funding for conservation activities. Healthy fish, forests, and wildlife benefit all Missourians with increased quality of life and economic benefits.

You can read the article online, or if you're like my family, we often look at the pictures first and the online article has a picture gallery.