September 2019

A draft Fish and Wildlife Relevancy Roadmap developed with support from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) and the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) was distributed to all 50 state fish and wildlife agency directors for their review prior to the upcoming AFWA meeting in Minneapolis September 22-25. The Roadmap is a non-prescriptive guide that agencies can use to engage and serve broader constituencies, while maintaining their historic connections with hunters and anglers. At the upcoming AFWA meeting, the state agency directors will discuss the Roadmap and consider how best to move forward.

Evolving Business Models and an Antiquated Excise Tax Collection Model

Today’s business model for manufacturing and distributing fishing and archery equipment is much more complex than the traditional business models that were in place when the excise taxes on hunting and angling equipment were first imposed (1930s for hunting, 1950s for angling). Because of changes to the business model, there are increasing “leakages” in the American System of Conservation Funding that are undermining the revenue potential for conservation. This first story of a two-part series takes a look at where these changes in the outdoor industry are occurring and how it is impacting excise tax collections.

As you know, one of the most important parts of managing your bank account is understanding the deposits into that account. The Wildlife Management Institute (supported by a Multi-State Conservation Grant) provides you with this quarterly snapshot of the excise tax collections to help you understand the health of American System of Conservation Funding. This system of funding was established in the 1930s and expanded and perfected over the next 40+ years. This reliable source of annual funding for state fish and wildlife agencies represents a unique partnership between the agencies and the hunting, shooting sports, angling and boating industries. In rough numbers, these excise tax deposits made by the partner industries represent about half of the state fish and wildlife agencies’ annual budget. Therefore, it is imperative to conservation that agencies (from the Commissioners down to the field biologists) understand the industry trends and work with these industries to ensure a strong income flow going forward.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has had significant effects on many populations of bats, but exactly how certain populations are affected varies among species, likely based on physical, genetic, and behavioral differences. The Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) for example, rebounds after the initial WNS-induced mass mortality event, and shows gradual improvement each following year. The closely related species, the Indiana bat (M. sodalist), shows the opposite pattern of annual survival following infection by WNS. This trend suggests that WNS imposes strong selection for a WNS-resistant phenotype in some species, potentially allowing infected populations to revert to positive growth (a phenomenon known as “evolutionary rescue”).