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NEW BERN, N.C. (Oct. 19, 2005) — The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is looking to bring hunters out of the wilderness and into the woods. A two-day symposium on recruiting and retaining hunters, held in New Bern last week, brought the Wildlife Commission together with hunters and hunting advocates from across the state. Points of view differed, but the consensus opinion was that unless current trends are reversed, hunting itself may wind up on the endangered species list. North Carolina has seen its annual hunting license sales decline 20 percent in the last decade, to fewer than 305,000 last year. Nationwide, a recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the number of hunters had plummeted from about 14 million to 13 million between 1996 and 2001. “In some ways, the situation in North Carolina is better than the nation as a whole — it’s more stable,” said Mark Duda of Responsive Management, a Virginia-based natural resources consulting firm that conducted the two-day workshop on behalf of the Wildlife Commission. Responsive Management will issue a report next month advising the Commission of actions to bring new hunters into the sport and lapsed hunters back. The recommendations will be based in part on the problems and potential solutions identified by more than 50 workshop participants — hunters, representatives of hunting clubs, wildlife organizations and staff of the Wildlife Commission itself. Participants blamed waning hunter participation on many factors — from increased competition for shrinking leisure time to societal and cultural changes (urbanization, loss of hunting lands, greater individual mobility and an increase in both dual-income and single-parent families). Among the many solutions offered were mentoring programs for inexperienced hunters; outreach to nontraditional hunter demographics (racial and ethnic minorities, women, the disabled and non-English speakers); new hunting lands; improved access to hunting lands; partnerships with schools; and the formation of a unified network of hunters, hunting groups and hunting-related organizations and governmental agencies. The Wildlife Commission’s emphasis on hunter recruitment and retention is new, said David Cobb, chief of wildlife management, but the agency has long strived to break down barriers to hunting. Hunter education programs, public game lands (now totaling more than 2 million acres statewide) and management of game species and habitats all strive to provide enjoyable and successful hunting opportunities. But as various factors continued to thin the ranks of hunters, the agency realized a need to study the problem and to launch a concerted campaign to solve it. “We are in the process of formalizing and expanding our effort,” Cobb said. It could take years and a lot of hard work by many people. Duda of the Responsive Management firm warned there was “not just one problem and not just one solution — there’s no silver bullet.” Richard Hamilton, executive director of the Wildlife Commission, said the undertaking was critical to the future not only of hunting, but also of the heritage that surrounds it. Wildlife species and habitats could also be at stake, as many conservation programs rely upon funding from excise taxes on sporting goods. “We need to look at the common elements that attract people to hunting. What are the common elements that give satisfaction and pleasure in hunting and make us want to teach hunting skills to our children? And what can we do to adapt our programs?” Hamilton said. “We’re counting on each and every one of you participants at this symposium to come with us on this important trip. We’ve taken the first step.”
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