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The Wildlife Endowment Fund -
Ensuring
Fish and Wildlife for Generations to Come
1981 was an extraordinary year for wildlife in North Carolina. It was a year when hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts like you became shareholders in an innovative investment and conservation program called the N.C. Wildlife Endowment Fund.
The endowment fund for wildlife was a simple yet revolutionary idea: Create a lifetime fishing or hunting license and lifetime magazine subscription to Wildlife in North Carolina. Put the license and subscription fees into a special fund. Spend the accrued interest, not the principal, on programs and projects that benefit fish and wildlife.
Since 1981, the Wildlife Commission has spent more than $32 million in interest on programs and projects. Some projects include:
- Game land acquisitions
- Small-game and songbird habitat restorations
- Fish hatchery renovations
- Fishing outreach center construction
- Wildlife enforcement equipment purchases
- K-9 training
- CATCH and WILD Educator workshops
- Education outreach centers
- Computer and computer-related purchases
Here’s how it works
The cost of a $500 lifetime “sportsman” license is equivalent to about 12 annual “sportsman” licenses, which currently sell for $40. So, if you purchase a lifetime license, you are essentially fishing and hunting for free after the 12th year.
What’s more, the $500 is invested in perpetuity which means that you — as a lifetime-license holder — continue to help fund wildlife conservation projects in North Carolina. The $500 you paid initially for the license remains invested (and untouched), while the interest earned on your $500 license equals or exceeds the revenue that would have been derived had you purchased a yearly license for the rest of your life.
With the creation of the Wildlife Endowment Fund, wildlife in North Carolina got a boost and, in turn, hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts like you reaped the rewards.
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Game Land Acquisitions
Monies from the Wildlife Endowment Fund have gone to purchase thousands
of acres of game lands, areas where the public can go to hunt, trap
or fish. Recent land acquisitions include a 14,256-acre addition to
Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County and a 17,800-acre addition
to South Mountains Game Land, which now encompasses nearly 21,000 acres,
sprawling Rutherford, Cleveland, McDowell and Burke counties.
Small-game and Songbird Habitat Restorations
Wildlife Management has used the endowment fund to expand its wild turkey restocking program and to increase habitat and improve small game and songbird populations on private lands through the Cooperative Upland habitat Restoration and Enhancement (CURE) program. CURE focuses on creating enough habitat in selected areas to impact local wildlife populations. Through CURE, the Wildlife Commission offers guidance, labor and financial assistance to qualified landowners who sign five-year contracts with the Commission.
Fish Hatchery Renovations
To enhance your fishing experiences and expand the variety of fishes stocked in the state, Wildlife Endowment funds have been used to improve state fish hatcheries, either by funding specific projects or serving as a match to obtain federal grants. The six hatcheries, located statewide, annually raise more than 7.8 million fish for stocking into North Carolina public, inland waters—from trout and walleye in the mountains to bluegill and striped bass in the Piedmont and Coastal regions.
Improvements in 2006 included a complete renovation of the Watha State Fish Hatchery. Building a new hatchery building, installing a new well, new water treatment and water distribution systems and renovating ponds were among the improvements partially funded with Wildlife Endowment monies. A similar project, also completed in 2006, was the renovation of the Armstrong State Fish Hatchery. This renovation project included the installation of new wells, degassing tower and water distribution for the hatchery building. In addition, a project to renovate the broodstock pond at the Marion Technology Center was completed during the summer of 2006.
Projects that were completed in 2005 include a new water recirculation system at the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery (formerly the Pisgah Forest Hatchery), and new wells, degassing tower and water distribution system for the hatchery building at the Table Rock State Fish Hatchery.
Pond improvements at McKinney Lake have benefited the channel catfish production as well. In 2005, more than 176,000 catchable-sized channel catfish were raised at McKinney Lake at Table Rock and stocked from April to September in 33 Community Fishing Program sites across the state.
Fishing Outreach Center Construction
The Division of Inland Fisheries has used Wildlife Endowment monies to help fund the design and construction of a new fishing education center in Fayetteville. The center, in the final stages of completion, will focus on promoting fishing, aquatic education and conservation. Among the amenities the center will provide are: fishing ponds that will accommodate up to 500 anglers at one time; displays on various Wildlife Commission aquatic education and fishing programs; accessible fishing platforms for anglers of all abilities; and various fishing-related classes, such as stream sampling and pond biological studies.
Wildlife Enforcement Equipment Purchases
All-terrain vehicles and trailers. Two-way radios. Decoy deer. Digital
cameras. Global positioning systems. Equipment purchases help wildlife
enforcement officers regulate hunting, fishing, trapping and boating
laws to provide protection and enforce the laws related to all wild
animal and freshwater aquatic resources in the state. This equipment
not only plays a vital role in the safety of the officer but allows
the enforcement division to maximize their efforts to prevent deer
and turkey poaching, fish overharvesting, bear baiting and countless
other violations that jeopardize the safety of the state's citizens
and its diverse wildlife resources.
K-9 Training
Endowment funds
helped jumpstart the Wildlife Enforcement K-9 project, which includes
nine K-9 units distributed throughout the state. K-9's
are trained in tracking and finding lost hunters, hikers and children;
searching for illegal equipment often discarded by violators; and
detecting excess and/or illegal game hidden from officers. A valuable
asset in collecting evidence that might not be located otherwise,
the K-9 units have increased the prosecution rate of poachers and
provided deterrence through high-visibility patrol.
CATCH and WILD Educator Workshops
The Wildlife Resources Commission’s Division of Conservation Education uses endowment funds for a variety of public education programs, such as CATCH (Caring for Aquatics Through Conservation Habits) and N.C. WILD, an instructional program for teachers to use wildlife and ecological concepts to teach math, science and language arts.
Wildlife Endowment funds helped offset publishing costs for the Wildlife Commission’s flagship publication, Wildlife in North Carolina magazine. This national award-winning magazine goes to nearly 69,000 homes and businesses each month.
Education Outreach Centers
Perhaps the best use of Wildlife Endowment Funds has been the construction of three public education centers, located across the state. Exhibits at the Centennial Center for Wildlife Education in Raleigh opened in April 2007, highlighting the species and habitats of the Piedmont region. Learn about the technology used in research and how wildlife survives in urban settings. The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education features exhibits that highlight the connection between the natural and cultural history of Currituck Sound and the Outer Banks. Learn about migratory waterfowl and the sporting heritage of the northern coast. Learn about the diverse wildlife of the Mountain region and the importance of wetlands at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, located in Brevard. The center is adjacent to the Bobby Setzer State Fish Hatchery where thousands of rainbow, brown and brook trout are raised for stocking streams and rivers.
Computer and Computer-Related Purchases
The Wildlife Resources Commission relies on updated computers and related equipment in order to serve the public more efficiently. The Division of Administrative Services has spent endowment funds to update software licenses, standardize software versions and consolidate all licensing to simplify maintenance and tracking. Endowment funds were used to purchase and maintain security and anti-virus software to protect against hackers and malicious viruses.
The division also has used funds to provide training for information technology staff on ALVIN, its innovative online licensing and vessel registration system. This system provides wildlife service agents with the ability to process vessel registrations and license purchases using a web-based system that allows real-time access to existing customer data, reducing the time it takes to purchase a license or register a vessel.