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Show 1 HURTING Decline of Sport Hunting Leaves Wildlife Utah hunters are becoming an increasingly rare breed. And that’s not good for the state’s wildlife. working to save nongame wildlife threatened by extinction. The fact is, DWR is all Utah's wild animals have got. No other state agency is spending money, in any significant amount, on wildlife and habitat. Who will make up the missing bucks to pay for wildlife habitat management? The DWR is encouraging more Utahns to take up hunting. Also, they’re finding ways to charge “nonconsumptive users” of Yeah, you read right. wildlife - their term for those who don’t take wildlife home and eat it - for the privilege of playing outdoors. The expected short-term return is peanuts. The decline of participation in hunting is a nationwide phenomenon, however, and promises to be long-term. Nationa! polls show that only half as many 18- to 24-year old Americans hunt today as hunted a decade ago. By Mark Gerard U tah hunters are becoming A national coalition of hunters and con- an increas- ingly rare breed. And that’s not good for the state's wildlife. Yeah, you that read right. This fall, about 78,000 Utahns are lining up their rifle sights for a deer hunt that, in the past, has drawn 200,000 residents. What the wild animals will be missing is not the crack of gunfire, of course, but the money those absent hunters have been contributing to preserving habitat and wildlife for 60 IN years. oa . « » @ A national “guns and ammo tax” - an * assessment on the manufacture of firearms ww and ammunition since 1937 - together with a ‘ : O the sale of hunting licenses, has allowed 5 Utah's Department of Wildlife Resources O (DWR) to spend millions each year on habi- ® tat preservation and wildlife. If the sport’s don’t sit together easily. Wildlife management is an oxymoron. After all, are these animals wild or are they managed? The stewardship DWR has embraced for generations is full of contradictions as well. For example, DWR has killed off predators, such as will cougar, to increase mule deer herds, and the agency has introduced exotic game animals, The words “wildlife” -and:“management” suich as pheasants, at the expense of native birds and animals. DWR admits that its 2 popularity ‘continues to decline, so @ money for wildlife management. <- 5) PHO BRET HICKEN New subdivisions, ski runs, dams and strip malls mean less habitat for deer. Fewer hunters means less money for habitat protection. wildlife management has favored hunters’ targets and has not been holistic. Hunters have been paying DWR’s bills, and hunters have been calling the shots. Regardless, DWR’s management of game animals and habitat has had a residual effect that’s beneficial for Utah’s nongame wildlife. For example, increasing big game winter range also preserves habitat for migrating birds. And lately, DWR has. been servationists is pushing for a modest tax on the manufacture of outdoor equipment modeled after the “guns and ammo tax” that would bring Utah $4 million annually to protect nongame wildlife. Congress may vote on it this year. “Utah is no different from other states” in the decline of participation in hunting, said Steve Phillips, DWR’s information specialist. Though in Utah, some unique factors have exaggerated the dropout rate, he said. The percentage of the Utah population that hunts has been decreasing for the last 15 years. The decline has been so steep that the total number of Utahns who hunt was fewer in 1996 than in 1960 - even though Utah’s population doubled in that time. In 1960, Utah had 184,000 hunters, about one-infive. In 1996, one-in-12. Utah had 167,000 hunters, “Hunting is a tradition that’s not handed |