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Winter 2003
ANGLERS/HUNTERS HAVE $1.2 BILLION ECONOMIC
IMPACT ON MISSISSIPPI
by James L. Cummins
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In 2001, 357,000 hunters and 586,000 anglers
spent $670 million in Mississippi in pursuit of their pastime
which supported 12,258 jobs in the state. These figures were
released on October 1, 2002, by the Congressional Sportsman's
Foundation. On the national level, 38 million sportsmen age 16
and older spent more than $70 billion dollars in 2001 - that
would rank hunters and anglers #11 on the Fortune 500 if they
formed a corporation. |
Revenues Generated By Hunters/Anglers Would Rank #11 On Fortune 500
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(L to R) Congressman Chip Pickering and James
L. Cummins of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation hold
a copy of the recently released report titled The American Sportsmen
- Take a Closer Look.
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According to Leila C. Wynn, President of the Mississippi Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, "Because so many sportsmen enjoy hunting
and fishing alone or in a small group, they have often been overlooked
as a constituency or as a substantial economic force, but Mississippi's
sportsmen annually spend more than the value of the state's cotton
crop ($670 million versus $406 million). That is a huge impact to the
state's economy and certainly a constituency worth listening to."
The new report entitled The American Sportsmen - Take a Closer Look, takes the
results from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2001 National Survey of Fishing,
Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation and compares hunters' and anglers'
impact on the economy with other industries. These statistics are impressive
and if anything they underestimate the impact of sportsmen since they do not
take into account the millions of hunters and anglers under 16 years of age or
people who were not able to get out and hunt or fish in 2001. When sportsmen's
spending is thought of in business terms and compared to other sectors of the
economy, it is quite remarkable how much state and federal tax revenues are generated,
how many people are employed and how many sectors of the economy are impacted.
From small rural towns scattered across Mississippi's landscape to the bottom
line of Fortune 500 companies located in some of our major cities - if you take
away hunting and fishing, you take away the equivalent of a multi billion dollar
corporation.
"Hunters spend $2 billion just on food when they take hunting trips; that's
more than Americans spend on Domino's pizza," stated Doug Painter, President
of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). "These statistics would
be even larger if sport shooters were incorporated into the spending estimates.
NSSF is working with competitive and recreational shooting organizations to complete
the economic picture with the inclusion of the non hunting sport shooter."
"Hunters and anglers have been widely acknowledged for their role in conserving
our fish, wildlife and natural resources, but they represent so much more than
meets the eye. Sportsmen in Mississippi annually pay $55.6 million in state sales,
fuel and income taxes - this could pay 1,881 teachers' salaries or fund the annual
education expenses of 10,488 students. Sportsmen support more jobs in Mississippi
(12,258 jobs) than Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation (10,000 jobs), one of our
state's largest employers. And the ripple effect of Mississippi's sportsmen is
$1.2 billion on our state's economy," said Congressman Charles "Chip" Pickering,
Co-Chairman of the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation.
"It is a fairly simple equation - hunters and anglers mean jobs in states
and local communities that have made the effort to maintain their hunting and
fishing opportunities," continued Pickering. "The economic impacts
that sportsmen have on state economies should be a wake up call to state governments
to
welcome and encourage hunting and fishing in their state."
The American Sportsmen - Take a Closer Look with national
statistics and an interactive map of state specific information is available
on the web at www.sportsmenslink.org.
The bipartisan, bicameral, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation represents the
largest caucus in the United States Congress with over 250 members. The Foundation
works to protect the rights of sportsmen and gun owners. Their web site is www.sportsmenslink.org.
The National Survey of Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife-Related Recreation
In 2001, 39 percent of all U.S. residents 16 years old and older participated
in activities such as hunting, fishing and birdwatching according to the comprehensive "2001
National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation."
Steve Williams, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stated, "This
National Survey is created in a partnership effort with the U.S. Bureau of Census,
and State fish and wildlife agencies, and has become one of the most important
sources of information on fish and wildlife recreation in the United States."
"It is a useful tool that quantifies the human economic impact generated
by wildlife based recreation. Federal, State and private organizations use this
detailed information to manage wildlife, market products, and look for trends." The
2001 Survey is the tenth in a series that began in 1955.
The Survey reports that more than 34 million Americans fished, 13 million hunted
and 66 million observed wildlife. These recreationists spent more than $108 billion
pursuing their activities. This expenditure accounted for 1.1% of the gross domestic
product. Of the total amount spent, $28.1
billion was trip related, $64.5 billion was spent on equipment and $15.8 billion
was spent on other items. America's 34 million anglers spent $35.6 billion in
pursuit of their hobby. More than 28 million people went freshwater fishing,
while nine million people went saltwater fishing.
The U.S. Bureau of Census interviewed 80,000 households in the United States
to determine participants in wildlife associated activities. From this initial
phase, 30,000 sportsmen and sportswomen and 15,000 wildlife watchers were selected
for detailed interviews about their participation and expenditures in 2001.
The 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife
Associated Recreation is posted at http://federalaid.fws.gov/.
Wildlife-Related Mississippi Businesses
Mississippi has some of the country's leading turkey and deer call manufacturers.
There is Primos Wild Game Calls of Jackson, Lynch Game Calls of Liberty, Strut
and Rut of Ridgeland and Preston Pittman Game Calls of Hattiesburg.
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A real success story is that Preston Pittman, who will be speaking at the Mississippi
Fish and Wildlife Expo on March 7-9 in Greenville. He made his first turkey call
when he was 16 years old...that's 33 years ago! Now his company makes many different
styles of turkey and deer calls, hunting accessories, face masks, pants and T-shirts
including videos and cassettes.
"I have such a love for the outdoors that I hope to someday making a living
from the outdoors," Pittman said when he was young. "I started building
and selling turkey calls to pay my way to turkey calling contests," continued
the turkey enthusiast.
Preston has hunted across the U.S. and was the first person to document a Double
Grand Slam, which is two turkeys of each of the four major sub species in the
United States.
The first calling contest he won was the Mississippi State Turkey Calling Contest.
Since then he has won over 200 contests, including national and world titles.
Several years ago, Pittman was invited to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay
Leno. He received a great welcome in addition to publicity about his products.
This was a great image booster for the image of Mississippi as well. On July
1, 2001, Preston took over ownership of the company he is so proud of, Pittman
Game Calls.
Another home-grown Mississippi company is Haas Outdoors of West Point. It is
a producer of the popular Mossy Oak line of camoflauge clothing. The founder,
who I also went to school with at Mississippi State University, had dreamed as
a child of blending in with the scenery while hunting with his father. In 1986,
he started his company. Moving fast, in 1990, he was named the State's Small
Businessman of the Year. In 1987, he introduced a line to the Shooting, Hunting
and Outdoors Trade Show (the Shot Show). It was a tremendous hit and Haas Outdoors
now has approximately 45 employees and continues to select new trends in camouflage
clothing.
Another company which makes quality outdoors products for the hunter is L & L
Enterprises of Leakesville which makes Ole Man Treestands, Ashford Springs
Hunting Products of Pearl which makes outdoor shirts, pants, shorts and duck
decoy bags
and T and M Manufacturing of Winona which manufactures the ATV Deer Kaddy.
A company in Laurel, Outdoor South, Inc. makes racks for four-wheelers.
Taylor Industrial Sewing of Brandon and Tchula makes hunting hoods, face masks,
pillows and deer rattlers. Archery Targets are made Southern Products of Louisville.
Among dozens of other companies who makes products in Mississippi for the outdoors
are those which supply fishing tackle and lures. Some of these firms are Hog
Rustler Lures, Inc. of Oxford, Pride Custom Baits of Collins, Slaters Jigs of
Indianola, Redneck Lures of New Hebron, Southern Lure Company of Columbus, Tightline
Tackle Company of Gulfport and Bandit Lures of Sardis.
Other fishing related type companies include paddle manufacturers in Calhoun
City and the ever-popular Motor-Guide trolling motors, which, until recently,
were manufactured in Starkville.
James L. Cummins, a fisheries biologist by training, is Executive
Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
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