Hunter numbers up, reversing two decades of downward trend.

[Eleanors38]

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/News/release.cfm?rid=569

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released data showing a 9 percent increase in the number of hunters over the last five years. Even bigger increases were posted for anglers. The overall number of people involved with outdoor activities (beyond just hunters and fishers) also increased.

This is good news not only for hunters and fishers, but for the country as a whole. Declining numbers of outdoor users can lead to a declining constituency for protection of ALL outdoors activities. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar:

“Seeing more people fishing, hunting, and getting outdoors is great news for America’s economy and conservation heritage,” said Salazar. “Outdoor recreation and tourism are huge economic engines for local communities and the country, so it is vital that we continue to support policies and investments that help Americans get outside, learn to fish, or go hunting. That is why, through President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, we have been focused on helping Americans rediscover the joys of casting a line, passing along family hunting traditions, and protecting the places they love.”

This August, 2012 preliminary report will be followed by more reports, perhaps fueling speculation as why a reversal in years of decline in numbers recreating outdoors has occurred during this Great Recession. IMO, many folks are visiting the outdoors for many reasons because trips to parks closer to home is both cheaper and easier than flying to popular, pre-packaged tourist "destinations." Also, women continue to be the fastest growing demographic in hunting and (I believe) fishing. And certainly there is the distinct possibility that the primal hunter/gatherer urge has a modern economic edge to it: Deer taken for food on a public land or on a friend's farm may prove cheaper than buying meat-under-cellophane; it certainly has been for me.