GET
INVOLVED
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.
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| 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:
- Wildlife is Held
in the Public Trust
- Regulated Commerce
in Wildlife
- Hunting and Angling
Laws are Created Through
Public Process
- Hunting and Angling
Opportunity for All
- Hunters and Anglers
Fund Conservation
- Wildlife is an International
Resource
- Science is the Basis
for Wildlife Policy
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