National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife ... - All About Birds

SummaryThe 2011 Survey revealed that over90 million U.S. residents 16 yearsold and older participated in wildliferelatedrecreation. During that year,33.1 million people fished, 13.7 millionhunted, and 71.8 million participated inat least one type of wildlife-watchingactivity including observing, feeding,or photographing fish and other wildlifein the United States.The focus of the National Survey is toestimate participation and expendituresof persons 16 years old and older in asingle year. These estimates are basedon data collected in the detailed phaseof the 2011 Survey. They are comparableto the estimates of the 1991,1996, 2001, and 2006 Surveys but notto earlier Surveys because of changesin methodology. A complete explanationis in Appendix C.While the focus of the Survey is toestimate wildlife-related recreationists16 years and older and their associatedexpenditures in a single year, informationcollected in the Survey screencan be used to estimate the number ofanglers and hunters who were activeover a five-year window of time.Because many do not participate everyyear, the following estimates may bemore representative of the number ofindividuals considered to be anglersand hunters in the United States: 49.5million individuals fished and 19.7million hunted over the five-year periodfrom 2007 to 2011.The Survey screen also provides someinformation about 6- to 15-year olds’participation which was calculated byusing data from the Survey screen.Assuming their proportions of participationwere the same in 2011 as in2010, the following estimates werecalculated: Of the 6- to 15-year-oldsin the U.S., 1.8 million hunted, 8.5million fished, and 11.7 million wildlifewatched in 2011. More informationabout this age group is provided inAppendix B. For the rest of this reportall information pertains to participants16 years old and older, unless otherwiseindicated.There was a considerable overlap inactivities among anglers, hunters, andwildlife watchers. In 2011, 69 percentof hunters also fished, and 28 percent ofanglers hunted. In addition, 51 percentof anglers and 57 percent of hunterswildlife watched, while 29 percent ofall wildlife watchers reported huntingand/or fishing during the year.Wildlife recreationists’ avidity alsois reflected in the $144.7 billion theyTotal Wildlife-Related RecreationParticipants. .......................Expenditures ......................SportspersonsTotal participants* ..................Anglers. ........................Hunters. ........................Total days .........................Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hunting ........................Total expenditures ..................Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hunting ........................Unspecified .....................Wildlife-watchersTotal participants** .................Around the home .................Away from home .................Total expenditures ..................* 9.4 million both fished and hunted.spent in 2011 on their activities, whichequated to 1 percent of the GrossDomestic Product. Of the total amountspent, $49.5 billion was trip-related,$70.4 billion was spent on equipment,and $25.1 billion was spent on otheritems such as licenses and land leasingand ownership.Sportspersons spent a total of $89.8billion in 2011—$41.8 billion onfishing, $33.7 billion on hunting, and$14.3 billion on items used for bothhunting and fishing. Wildlife watchersspent $54.9 billion on their activitiesaround the home and on trips awayfrom home.90.1 million$144.7 billion** 19.3 million wildlife watched both around the home and awayfrom home.37.4 million33.1 million13.7 million836 million554 million282 million$89.8 billion41.8 billion33.7 billion14.3 billion71.8 million68.6 million22.5 million$54.9 billion4 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Census Bureau