Posted: 04/04/07

Hunting on the decline
Hunting/angling licenses on the decline in Vt., Fish & Wildlife Dept. lacks funding

Emma Long | copy editor
elong@smcvt.edu

In autumn, deep within the forests of Vermont, the only audible sounds are the crunch of snow-dusted leaves beneath your boots, the occasional flutter of a restless bird's wings, and the sporadic breeze, which clicks the thin tree branches together in a soft cacophony. Your object is to wait until it's safe to proceed without any disturbance; tracking a deer is a difficult and lengthy mission.

But with the number of issued hunting and fishing licenses on the steady decline in Vermont, if this is how you spend your free time, statistics show you're part of a slowly dying breed.

The issue: the decline in hunting and fishing

From 2000 to 2005 alone, Vt. hunting and fishing license sales dropped from 276,551 to 214,378 with a steady decline shown each year, according to Sherry Barrows of the licensing sector of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

"Our Fish and Wildlife Department has been traditionally funded by license sales and matching funds from an excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment," Shallow says. (Izabela Socha, photo)

“These numbers include hunting, archery, turkey, muzzle-loader, fishing, and everything else we issue,” Barrows says.

Although Barrows says the 2006 figures aren't yet available, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is now being forced to look toward different resources for funding.

“Our Fish and Wildlife Department has been traditionally funded by license sales and matching funds from an excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment,” says Jim Shallow, conservation and policy director of Audubon Vermont. “As license sales decline, the Department has to make do with less money. Unfortunately, at the same time, the duties of the department have expanded to address all wildlife and habitat,” he says.

Apart from issuing licenses, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department does a variety of diverse things, says Tom Decker, director and chief of operations.

Habitat protection, law enforcement, and public relations are all included in the services the department offers, he says.

For example, “the department regularly reviews Act 250 permit applications that impact wildlife habitat, wind power proposals, and our wardens respond to all kinds of law enforcement actions,” Shallow says.

“Our mission has really broadened,” Decker says.

Where have all the hunters gone?

“There are a variety of factors that contribute to the decline [in hunting],” Decker says. “Most often it has to do with time.”

Decker says people have more family commitments than they used to, and that kids are often involved with more activities these days.

There is also the issue of age demographics; the average age of hunters is growing older, he says.

Also, "people are working more hours now,” he says, and things like limited annual vacation time can lead to less time spent in the woods. For example, at his previous job, Decker says he had five weeks of vacation allotted per year; at his current job, he only gets two weeks.

There are numerous surveys given out nationally to figure out why hunting and fishing are on the decline, and Decker says Vermont is not unique to this problem.

“Nationwide, the number of people hunting and fishing is down,” Shallow says.

Sometimes on the surveys, people indicate cost as a reason for their lack of participation, but Decker says he doesn't see it as such.

“People go to the movies and out to dinner and that can cost $100,” he says, “but for $20 a fishing license is a very good buy.”

According to Shallow, the decline is due to a cultural shift.

“Maybe we all just don't spend enough time outdoors anymore,” he says. “Here in Vermont, I think the decline is partly due to the posting of land and the development in our rural areas.”

Shallow says it used to be that private landowners allowed hunting on their land, but new Vermont residents or second-home owners aren't always so accommodating. (Izabela Socha, photo)

Shallow says it used to be that private landowners allowed hunting on their land, but new Vermont residents or second-home owners aren't always so accommodating.

“In addition, as the rural landscape is chopped up into smaller parcels, hunting becomes more difficult,” he says.

Justin Albin, a 22-year-old contractor of West Townshend, Vt., says hunting used to be his favorite pastime. Since he graduated from high school in 2003, however, he's had trouble finding time in between work and a social life.

“My dad and I used to go a dozen times a season,” Albin says. “That's how we'd spend our weekends.”

After a while, though, Albin says it became more difficult to find local areas that weren't posted as private property.

“We started going up to Maine for the weekends because there's much more un-posted land up there,” he says, “but after a while it just got too expensive to make the drive and I just stopped going. I work 50 hours a week almost all year now and so when it comes time for the weekend, I’d rather just relax.”

What's next?

Last summer, Shallow says he was appointed by Gov. Jim Douglas to the Fish and Wildlife Funding Taskforce and co-chaired with James Ehlers. The nine-member taskforce was established by the legislature and charged with making recommendations on sustainable funding sources for the Department, he says.

“We were asked to report back to the legislature by January 2007,” he says. “We worked to determine what the Department's funding needs were, and what other states were doing to address the funding problems.”

In the end, Shallow says, the taskforce made eight recommendations.

“Our first recommendation is to re-direct 1/8 of one percent of the existing state sales tax to the department,” Shallow says. “Other states like Missouri, Arkansas, and Virginia have taken this approach.”

When surveyed in 2000, 81 percent of Vermonters supported this type of funding for the department, he says.

“It is time we all recognized that the Department is doing the work of all Vermonters, and that the hunting and fishing community shouldn't be the only ones paying for it.” -Jim Shallow

Other possibilities the taskforce looked into were re-directing the room and meal tax, and creating a five-year fishing license, Shallow says. However he says he believes the sales tax re-direction is the best approach, as “it would generate enough revenue to cover the gap in the department's budget,” he says.

“It would also explicitly recognize the fact that wildlife-related activities generate $386 million in economic activity for the State of Vermont , resulting in approximately $8.4 million in sales taxes every year,” he says.

As for the next step, Shallow says the taskforce disbanded when it completed its charge, but that he has not ceased to push for change.

“I now am working with a variety of other sporting and conservation organizations called the Wildlife Partnership to push the legislature to enact the recommendations the Taskforce made,” he says.

In order for anything to get accomplished, Shallow says there first needs to be recognition.

“It is time we all recognized that the department is doing the work of all Vermonters,” he says, “and that the hunting and fishing community shouldn't be the only ones paying for it."