Hamilton Reef
07-02-2002, 10:11 PM
Changing attitudes may prove death knell for hunters
Friday, June 27, 2002
By David V. Graham
FLINT JOURNAL OUTDOORS WRITER
CHARLESTON, W.V. -- Waterfowl hunters in the United States and Canada are on the verge of becoming an endangered species, if current trends hold.
Two officials from Delta Waterfowl, a nonprofit international conservation group dedicated to promoting waterfowl conservation and hunting, announced Tuesday at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America here that an increasingly urban population in both countries is resulting in fewer waterfowl hunters.
Bob Bailey, Delta's vice president of policy in Canada, said the decline is particularly severe in Canada, which he said is about 20 years farther ahead in the urbanization process than the U.S.
He noted that 70 percent of the Canadian population lives in three major metropolitan areas -- Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Surveys show that urban populations tend to be less supportive of hunting traditions than rural populations, he said.
Other factors in the overall decline in waterfowl hunters, in spite of increasing waterfowl populations evident in the 1990s, include a decline in youth participation, lifestyle changes, public access problems, gun-control measures, changing social attitudes and increasingly difficult regulations, he said.
Bailey noted that there were 2.3 million waterfowl hunters in the U.S. in 1971.
That number saw a drop of 52 percent over the years until 1991, when the trend reversed.
Although duck hunters have increased 35 percent since then, they still are about 24 percent below the 1971 peak, he said.
The overall number of hunters in the U.S. has declined about 7 percent since 1991, although big game hunters have increased 2 percent.
Declining numbers of waterfowl hunters will likely mean declining political support for waterfowl and marshland issues, Bailey predicted, along with a decline in general support for waterfowl hunting among the 80 percent of the population that does not hunt but who do not sympathize with the animal rights agenda.
Bailey said animal rights activists, in cooperation with radical environmentalists and animal protectionists, are gaining political support especially in Canada because of the declining interest in hunting of all kinds.
Bailey said it is Delta's mission to reverse that trend because it sees hunters as the best conservationists of marshlands and other animal habitats because they are more willing to make the financial and time donations to conserve those areas than other groups.
Jonathon Scarth, Delta Waterfowl president, said hunters, especially waterfowlers, need to do a better job of reversing the trend in the waterfowling tradition in order to combat the gains made by the animal rights groups.
Friday, June 27, 2002
By David V. Graham
FLINT JOURNAL OUTDOORS WRITER
CHARLESTON, W.V. -- Waterfowl hunters in the United States and Canada are on the verge of becoming an endangered species, if current trends hold.
Two officials from Delta Waterfowl, a nonprofit international conservation group dedicated to promoting waterfowl conservation and hunting, announced Tuesday at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America here that an increasingly urban population in both countries is resulting in fewer waterfowl hunters.
Bob Bailey, Delta's vice president of policy in Canada, said the decline is particularly severe in Canada, which he said is about 20 years farther ahead in the urbanization process than the U.S.
He noted that 70 percent of the Canadian population lives in three major metropolitan areas -- Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Surveys show that urban populations tend to be less supportive of hunting traditions than rural populations, he said.
Other factors in the overall decline in waterfowl hunters, in spite of increasing waterfowl populations evident in the 1990s, include a decline in youth participation, lifestyle changes, public access problems, gun-control measures, changing social attitudes and increasingly difficult regulations, he said.
Bailey noted that there were 2.3 million waterfowl hunters in the U.S. in 1971.
That number saw a drop of 52 percent over the years until 1991, when the trend reversed.
Although duck hunters have increased 35 percent since then, they still are about 24 percent below the 1971 peak, he said.
The overall number of hunters in the U.S. has declined about 7 percent since 1991, although big game hunters have increased 2 percent.
Declining numbers of waterfowl hunters will likely mean declining political support for waterfowl and marshland issues, Bailey predicted, along with a decline in general support for waterfowl hunting among the 80 percent of the population that does not hunt but who do not sympathize with the animal rights agenda.
Bailey said animal rights activists, in cooperation with radical environmentalists and animal protectionists, are gaining political support especially in Canada because of the declining interest in hunting of all kinds.
Bailey said it is Delta's mission to reverse that trend because it sees hunters as the best conservationists of marshlands and other animal habitats because they are more willing to make the financial and time donations to conserve those areas than other groups.
Jonathon Scarth, Delta Waterfowl president, said hunters, especially waterfowlers, need to do a better job of reversing the trend in the waterfowling tradition in order to combat the gains made by the animal rights groups.