GET INVOLVED

HUNTING HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP: MENTORED HUNTING CAMP GRANT PROGRAM

In an effort to increase hunter recruitment, retention, and appreciation, the Arizona Game and Fish Department is offering $25,000 in grant funding starting July 1, 2009 to qualifying non-profit hunting organizations, sportsmen’s groups, wildlife conservation groups, and rod and gun clubs to host mentored hunting-camps for first-time hunters in Arizona.

The grant program is a pass-through grant program funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) Hunting Heritage Partnership, which supports state agencies to expand hunter recruitment and retention.

Each successful applicant can qualify for up to $1000 to host a mentored hunting-camp. The funds may be used to cover a number of expenses related to running the event.

Applications must be submitte by mail onlin and the deadline is Wednesday Aug. 12, 2009 at 5 p.m. MST (postmarks don't count).

• CLICK HERE for more details, grant application packet and requirements.

HUNTING HERITAGE WORKGROUP:

The Arizona Game and Fish Department has assembled the Hunter Heritage Work Group to focus primarily on the issue of recruitment and retention of hunters. The group is assembled with individuals from a wide variety of Work Units, and many different disciplines, and diverse personal back grounds. The common thread among participants is an expressed concern over the trends in recruitment and retention of hunters in Arizona, and nation-wide.

The mission of the Hunting Heritage Workgroup is to facilitate the Department’s efforts to pass on the hunting tradition to its constituents, and to keep hunting and fishing relevant into the next century. The foundation of this group’s effort is the North American Model of wildlife conservation.

The Hunting Heritage Workgroup is comprised of dedicated wildlife professionals and concerned sportsmen, sportswomen, conservation groups, rod and gun clubs and the like who meet semi-annually. In its efforts to keep hunting relevant into the next century the Group will help the Department develop and deploy outreach, programs, and information to increase public awareness of and support for hunting, and to improve hunter recruitment and retention rates.

NORTH AMERICAN MODEL OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION:

In North America, we have the most successful system of wildlife conservation ever developed. While North Americans enjoy a great abundance and diversity of native wildlife, other countries struggle with conserving what little they have left. As a result, no other continent has such a widely available assemblage of native wildlife species – predators and prey.

Early conservation-minded people recognized the need to establish the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, perpetuating all wildlife species and their habitats through active management, monitoring, and sound science. Hunting and angling are the cornerstones of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

These activities continue to be the primary source of funding for conservation efforts in North America. Through self-imposed excise tax on hunting, angling and shooting sports equipment, hunters and anglers have generated more than $10 billion toward wildlife conservation since 1939.

For years conservation efforts focused on hunted species, but even then the benefits gained by non-hunted wildlife were obvious. The North American Model of Wildlife Management is unique, and it is based on the following guiding principals, or core concepts.

Arizona's 7-Core Concepts of Conservation:

1. Wildlife is Held in the Public Trust
2. Regulated Commerce in Wildlife
3. Hunting and Angling Laws are Created Through
   Public Process
4. Hunting and Angling Opportunity for All
5. Hunters and Anglers Fund Conservation
6. Wildlife is an International Resource
7. Science is the Basis for Wildlife Policy

• Brochure: North American Model - The greatest story never told [PDF, 532kb]