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Show National Hunting and Fishing Day set for Sept. 24 fciunUv. September 24. is ;,V,..nil linntms and Kishmg ' . it is the ime iy each jr set SH,, t0 ,H'0K,if, the !rlhuluiis f the hunting 'j fihiS lortsinen to ..rMlion and propagation ,Kili(' tn0 SSlH'illtt,J j(mUI wildlife demands. JlWjcr the following punters aiul fishermen pay and permits to hunt Ij fish. In many rases, these fees that sportsmen re "(wi themselves in an ort to raise money for Nervation. In the last 50 firs, these funds have pro-,iJ pro-,iJ seme $4 billion for lildlife conservation. Sportsmen provide over SI million each year through Anient of excise taxes on rtins ir"ls ammuni tion, fishing tackle ami archery ar-chery equipment. Sportsmen backed the passage of theso taxes some 40 years ago and have even supported efforts to increase them in recent years. Hunters provide an additional ad-ditional $U million each year through purchases of duck stamps which are required for the hunting of waterfowl. Purchases of duck stamps have provided some $165 million mil-lion for waterfowl conservation conserva-tion in the last 40 years. In addition to all the funding fund-ing mentioned above, hunters and fishermen spend an estimated es-timated $150 million a year to improve fish and wildlife habitat habi-tat on private lands. They also provide a majority of the support for private conservation conserva-tion groups such as the Na- tional Wildlife Fedei ntion, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, Un-limited, Iaak Walton league, Audubon Society and others. Revenues from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses provide nearly two thirds of the funding for the 50 stale fish and wildlife agencies. This money makes possible the pruchnses of millions of acres of wildlife habitat and helps pay for research, conservation con-servation education, restocking restock-ing programs and other related relat-ed activities that benefit all wildlife song birds and chipmunks chip-munks as well as deer and elk. Funds from excise taxes on sporting equipment are used for fish and wildlife restoration restora-tion projects and for education educa-tion programs. These funds provide 15 percent of the uuiuial liu'oitie ol stale couser-valion couser-valion agencies. The money from the duck stamps is used by the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service to buy and lease vital waterfowl habitat - places like marshes and lakes that ducks and geese need to live and reproduce. repro-duce. Since nearly two thirds of all wildlife habitat is in pri- vate ownership, it is vital that I efforts be mudo to keep this ! land suitable for wildlife. Ily developing ponds and performing perfor-ming similar habitat-enhancement activities on private lands and by supporting conservation con-servation legislation on the slate and local level, sportsmen sports-men have served as an example exam-ple to all Americans that conservation starts close to home. |