C.L. “Butch” Otter, Governor of Idaho, has proclaimed Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 to be Hunting and Fishing Day.
According to the proclamation, Idaho has a rich and storied tradition of hunting and angling that dates to before statehood, and carries forward to this day.
In addition, the proclamation states:
- Idaho’s sportsmen and women were among the first conservationists to support the establishment of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to conserve fish, wildlife and their habitat, and through their license fees helped fund state efforts to provide for healthy and sustainable natural resources.
- Upon realizing that license fees alone were insufficient to restore and sustain healthy fish and wildlife populations, sportsmen and women supported self-imposed excise taxes on hunting, fishing and boating equipment to raise additional conservation funds.
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game is funded primarily by sportsmen and women, through this American System of Conservation Funding - a “user pays/ public benefits” approach that is widely recognized as the most successful system of fish and wildlife management in the world.
- Last year alone, Idaho’s sportsmen and women generated $57.6 million through this system to support the conservation efforts of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
- Idaho’s 534,000 hunters and anglers support the state’s economy through spending more than $1.02 billion while engaged in their pursuits.
- Spending supports over 15,261 jobs in Idaho and generates $97 million in state and local taxes.
- Idaho receives many and varied social, cultural, economic, and ecological benefits from our time-honored traditions of hunting and angling, and it is appropriate to set aside a day of celebration for Idaho’s sportsmen and women.
National Hunting and Fishing Day was established in 1972 to celebrate and recognize hunters and anglers for their immense contributions to fish and wildlife conservation, and to our society.