AUTHORS: Keith Warnke, Midwestern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies; Lou Cornicelli, Southwick Associates; Luke Boehm, Southwick Associates
ABSTRACT: Since the COVID-19 pandemic attendance at most state parks has increased, in some cases dramatically. This has placed a strain on park personnel and financial resources. A similar pandemic bump in hunting and fishing license sales was also observed. However, the boost in hunting and fishing sales has since subsided, and the trend of decreasing license sales across the United States dating back to the early 2000s has continued. Because state park visitors are interested in the outdoors, there may be potential for greater recruitment from this population. To better understand the recruitment potential into hunting, fishing, and target shooting, a panel of people who’ve taken at least one trip to a Midwestern state park in the past two years were surveyed. In this survey, trends in state park visitors hunting, fishing, and target shooting participation rates as well as their interest in continuing or starting these activities were identified. Additionally, visitors were surveyed to determine the communication channels, programs, and incentives that would make them more likely to participate in the future. The results of this survey can be used to help inform states on how to increase hunting, fishing, and target shooting recruitment from state park visitors.
