I live in upstate New York, our town is unique in that it has
6 lakes, a creek that leads to the Hudson River, and numerous ponds. Over the
last 5 years there has been a push from our local Government to limit the
amount of access the public has to these waterways and even state land for
hunting. The town has argued that it isn’t their fault, the people using these
areas have polluted, abused, vandalized, and disrupted the nature around the
public areas. I have seen the destruction first hand, the beer bottles, the
extra fishing line, and all the trash in between. While this is far from
acceptable, we need to find better alternatives to closing down these areas.
The facts
According to a five year study conducted by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hunting participation declined by 2 million
people. Hunting expenditures declined 29 percent from 36 billion to 25 billion
dollars. While fishing has been study, with an estimated 35 million anglers in
the U.S., every year less and less people are trading in hunting and fishing
gear for hiking and wildlife photography. These two growing activities are beneficial
for the well-being of the person, but there isn’t any money going to State
Conservation efforts. In New York, many State Parks are now charging per car to
enter, but now some famous trails require an additional fee to make up the
cost. This is keeping people from adventuring outdoors or exploring someplace
new, which is also starving local businesses in revenue generated by tourists.
These numbers are overwhelming to Conservation efforts, U.S. Secretary of the
interior Ryan Zinke stated; “This report absolutely underscores the need to
increase public access to public lands across the country.”
Similar
issues come with privately owned land being used for hunting and fishing. Many
landowners have been burned by visitors who have destroyed property or have broken
laws while using the land. Furthermore, an increase in lawsuits over the last
decade have some landowners worried about the liability.
Since
there has been a decrease in hunting and fishing, mainly due to limited access
(and the rise of electronics) funding for public land and public access points
has decreased. In the past, the purchasing, protection, and upkeep of public
land has come from two sources. First, the federal excise tax on Firearms,
ammo, fishing equipment and archery has always gone back to the State for these
lands. This is possible due to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration act. Secondly,
license fees for fishing and hunting through the State wildlife conservation programs.
As I stated above, billions have been lost due to the decline in outdoorsmen.
Solutions
There
are many programs out there that assist with conservation efforts. These
include large programs such as the “adopt a highway” program and even new
programs such as Raise em’ outdoors and local park activities. But this clearly
isn’t enough to keep the numbers from falling. I am currently working with the
town to try to get more public access to these lakes, but it is a slow process considering
the damage that has been done. More police means higher taxes, more upkeep
means extra cost to use a trail. In the end… it’s on us. I would like to see
about getting an “Adopt a trail” program or a “adopt a public beach” program
going. We won’t be able to change a private landowners mind easily, that land
is their lively hood. But unless we push for easier access to land and water,
these numbers will continue to decline.
Have any thoughts or ideas? Subscribe or
comment, or shoot me an email. We all need to plant our roots.
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