An Anniversary Gift to End All Anniversary Gifts
Feb
6
Written by:
2/6/2012 10:32 AM
Traditionalists would have us believe that anniversary presents should follow this pattern:
· 1st anniversary, paper 
· 5th anniversary, wood
· 10th anniversary, tin
· 15th anniversary, crystal
· 20th anniversary, china
· 25th anniversary, silver
· 50th anniversary, gold
· 75th anniversary, diamond
That diamond for the 75th anniversary gift sound good to you? Willing to trade it for what the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has behind the curtain?
Hope so, because no diamond can come close to the $14 billion doled out by the USFWS to support fish and wildlife conservation over the past 75 years.
Through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, the USFWS works with state fish and wildlife agencies such as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to administer several innovative fish and wildlife restoration and management programs.
The first was created in 1937 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, which raises funds through a dedicated excise tax on sporting guns and ammunition. In 1950, the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act was enacted and added to the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Through this law, the USFWS administers funds to fish and wildlife agencies for fish conservation and boating and fishing recreational programs in each state through an excise tax placed on certain fishing and boating equipment and fuels.
So, raise your glasses. A toast is in order. Happy 75
th anniversary to the
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program — a program benefitting anglers, hunters and boaters to the tune of more than $14 billion to support fish and wildlife restoration and management across the country.