Article Written By: Campbell Decker,
https://gunnhook.com/outdoor-journal/
The hunting and fishing industry in the U.S. is a big as it’s ever been, and growing. As outdoorsmen, we are passionate about we do and our spending habits reflect our desires in a BIG way. The industry itself is a large economical force, not even considering the money spent outside of the United States. Licenses, stamps, tags, and permits account for $25 billion a year in federal, state, and local taxes. Since 2006, hunter’s expenditures alone have more than doubled. Outdoorsmen as a demographic, influence our economy whether you like it or not. On average, the hunting industry generates $76 billion dollars annually. Not to mention the effect they have on rural areas supporting gas stations, retail, restaurants and hotels, keeping thousands of small businesses operating for another year. In addition, hunting and fishing has created over 1.6 million jobs in the United States, alone. These are not just guides and outfitters, but jobs spanning the spectrum, from online blogging, to wildlife biologists, to field-testing and design.
Not only does hunting and fishing generate commerce across the country, but outdoes some large and powerful American industries. Texans lead the nation in numbers of both hunters and fisherman. In a state where oil and gas are king, hunting and fishing creates almost as many jobs. In Florida, fishing alone generates four times the revenue than that of orange farming, Florida’s top agricultural enterprise. If you think more people watch the top three major networks’ news each night than hunt or fish, you are wrong. The consumerism doesn’t stop with an individual’s needs or wants, but continues in many ways. For instance, hunting dogs; hunters spends nearly half of a billion dollars on their dogs, averaging $493 million a year within the dog industry.
Rural real estate for hunting and fishing contributes to a large percentage of funds generated by outdoorsmen, at $9 billion spent annually on land and leases. Spending of our outdoor nation exceeds the revenues of Microsoft, Google, Ebay and Yahoo! combined (76 billion vs. 73.6 billion). Outdoorsmen more than contribute to state and local taxes each year totaling $4.2 billion raised. The fishing industry boasts some surprising numbers alone; 6 million more Americans would rather go fishing than play golf (30 million vs 24 Million). More people go fishing than go to Disney World each year, the top destination resort in the world.
Conservation is critical to the future of our country for many reasons. Hunting and fishing provides over 80% of the funding for state fish and wildlife agencies. $570 million a year in fuel taxes from boaters directly funds coastal wetlands and fisheries conservation. Fishermen contribute to conservation growth annually. Conservation would cease to exist without the role played by outdoorsmen and their pastimes. Lending support to conservation associations enables the purchase of millions of acres of lands for habitat restoration and refuge. Turkeys, ducks, whitetail deer, and dozens of other species’ continued survival are directly attributed to federal excise taxes and state license revenue. Whether you hunt, fish, or simply enjoy the outdoors, you have undoubtedly contributed to these numbers. If you are looking for your next hunting or fishing trip, get the biggest bang for your buck, and book with Gunn&Hook.
To see the original article, go to https://gunnhook.com/outdoor-journal/the-societal-and-economic-impact-of-the-outdoors/
The Societal and Economic Impact of the Outdoors. appeared first on AverageHunter.com and written by GunnHook.com.
