On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, a special session focusing on the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR)?Program?will be held at the 77^th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Titled "Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration 75^th Anniversary: The Wildlife Restoration Program" the special session (concurrent with three other special sessions immediately following the conference plenary) will provide a brief history of the WSFR, discuss how it has changed the way states manage wildlife, highlight effective partnerships, provide an economic perspective of the WSFR, and discuss the program's future.

The Wildlife Restoration (Pittman-Robertson or P-R) Act of 1937, and the Sport Fish Restoration (Dingell-Johnson or D-J) Act of 1950 are considered the world's most successful wildlife and fish restoration programs and have become the most important means for implementation of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Together, the WSFR has contributed more than $12 billion to fish and wildlife conservation in the United States?more than any other single conservation effort.

The success of the WSFR lies in partnerships between users (anglers, boaters, hunters and shooters), the industries that support those activities, state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, and nongovernmental conservation organizations. User-generated funding (e.g., product excise taxes, import duties, license fees and motor boat fuel taxes) has provided state-based revenues for the restoration, management and regulated harvest of many species, including white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, wood ducks, beavers, trout and salmon. Fish and wildlife habitats have been conserved and managed; technical assistance has been provided to land managers and landowners; access has been secured for hunting, fishing, boating, trapping and wildlife observation; shooting ranges have been constructed; and education programs have been initiated to encourage safe, responsible hunting and boating. Most of these programs have substantially benefited nongame species as well.

Federal excise taxes generated through the WSFR represent a significant financial stimulus for conservation, the general economy, and especially the industries that write the checks supporting the program. However, long-term declining trends in hunter, angler, trapper, and boater participation are cause for concern about continued, sustainable funding for conservation, outdoor recreation access and education programs (i.e., fewer participants means fewer funds for the WSFR).

Presenters at the special session will identify the successes of the WSFR, but emphasis will be on future conservation funding needs and initiatives to perpetuate the nation's fish and wildlife resources.

Learn more about the?75^th anniversary of the WSFR. (mcd)