![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/HHP2010.gif\" "\\"HHP2010\\"")
<\/a>Click on map to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n
A total of $419,150 in grants will be distributed, with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies each receiving two grants. Now in its eighth year, NSSF\u2019s Hunting Heritage Partnership program has contributed more than $3.7 million in support of projects managed by state natural resource agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese grants will support effective, pro-hunting projects by state agencies that otherwise may not have been launched because of lack of funding during these challenging times for state economies,\u201d said Steve Sanetti, president of NSSF. \u201cThese projects address hunting\u2019s biggest challenges, including access, mentoring and using new media tools to communicate with young hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Added Melissa Schilling, NSSF\u2019s manager of recruitment and retention who oversees the grant program, \u201cI am pleased to see that we have our first regional applicant, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. It\u2019s great to have numerous states working together toward a common goal. All state fish and wildlife agencies have a parallel interest in recruiting and retaining hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the inception of the Hunting Heritage Partnership program, 98 grants have been awarded to 37 state agencies and one regional organization for a total of $3,828,653 in support of hunting-related initiatives. Those states receiving the most funds over the history of the HHP program include Idaho ($351,000), Tennessee ($326,625), Virginia ($230,360), Wyoming ($180,000), South Carolina ($179,000), Montana ($175,700), Nebraska ($165,000) and Pennsylvania ($161,800).<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s 11 grant recipients are as follows:<\/p>\n
Arizona Game & Fish Department\u2014$40,000<\/strong> Idaho Department of Fish & Game\u2014$12,500<\/strong> Nebraska Game and Parks Commission\u2014$45,000<\/strong> Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation\u2014$40,000<\/strong> Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation\u2014$28,500<\/strong> Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries\u2014$87,550<\/strong> West Virginia Division of Natural Resources\u2014$30,000<\/strong> Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources\u2014$15,600<\/strong> Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies\u2014$40,000<\/strong> Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies\u2014$45,000<\/strong> Wyoming Game & Fish Department\u2014$35,000<\/strong> NSSF evaluated 25 proposals from 18 state agencies, giving the most promising its support. Learn more about NSSF\u2019s Hunting Heritage Partnership at http:\/\/www.nssf.org\/hhp\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n About NSSF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NEWTOWN, Conn. — Emphasizing projects designed to reactivate lapsed hunters, introduce more youngsters to hunting and evaluate previously funded efforts, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has awarded Hunting Heritage Partnership grants to seven state wildlife agencies and, for the first time, the regional Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. NSSF is the trade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,546],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-from-the-industry","tag-nssf","tag-nssfs-hunting-heritage-partnership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nProject: To continue the state\u2019s three-year Recruitment Camp Partnership Project begun in 2009 with an NSSF grant. The focus this year is on mentoring new hunters through the \u201cgame camp model\u201d established in partnership with local sportsmen\u2019s organizations.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To facilitate hunter recruitment by hosting clinics that provide a positive hunting experience for youth and that provide parents with skills needed to independently lead family hunting excursions.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To use new- and multi-media resources to develop and retain hunters, particularly in the 20 to 28 age range, which showed the greatest dropout rate of all hunters in Nebraska. The state\u2019s new \u201cOutdoor U\u201d program utilizes online tools to help the participant follow a pathway, such as hunting through various levels of expertise.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To certify 7,500 to 10,000 students via teacher-led, in-school hunter education courses and thereby recruit 1,000 to 2,000 students to hunting. The initiative is based on survey findings that show National Archery in the Schools Program teachers have considerable interest in teaching hunter education as part of their general school curriculum.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To provide incentive for the purchase of apprentice-designated licenses and supply those license holders with a free book of maps of the state\u2019s public hunting lands. The overall goal is to significantly increase awareness and understanding of the apprentice-designated licenses and the resources available to those license holders.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To implement a targeted mail campaign that will be based on a solid foundation of research to recruit lapsed hunting license buyers from the year 2006\u20132009. Campaign messaging will be based on a communications research project from 2009 that was funded by NSSF.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To motivate children and adults to get out of their homes and into a new training program to experience the heritage of hunting. Skilled staff and volunteers will take an inexperienced hunter, provide him or her with basic skills and then accompany the newcomer afield to harvest game. Participants will be surveyed during all stages of their experience, including post-hunt, to determine if they will continue hunting.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To conduct the second Learn to Hunt training conference for mentors and to make area organizers aware of the importance of research, diversity, well-trained instructors, quality mentors and understanding the recruitment and retention process. The initiative will improve the state\u2019s lagging \u201chunter replacement ratio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nProject: To conduct a complete evaluation of all Hunting Heritage Partnership-funded recruitment and retention projects since 2003, focusing on participation rates, license sales and the potential for replicating successful program in other states. The study should prove extremely valuable for all stakeholders involved with hunting across the country.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To conduct a \u201cShooting Sports and Hunter Participation Workshop\u201d designed to increase awareness of what state fish and wildlife agencies and other organizations are doing to address recruitment and retention of hunters; identify new strategies and programs; draft a document that highlights each agency and organization\u2019s recruitment and retention programs and strategies; and foster open communication among state agencies and organizations.<\/p>\n
\nProject: To promote hunting access by signing up private landowners to allow the public access to their lands; maximize the number of acres accessible to hunting; and to maximize the number of hunters using the access areas. In 2009, the program provided access to 3.2 million acres for hunting by thousands of residents. This year the program hopes to expand on that.<\/p>\n