How many times have you said or heard the following: “Look around, do you see any young people here?” I hear it in almost every organization in which I belong – rod and gun clubs, county leagues of sportsmen, watershed groups, veteran organizations, etc. And I suspect the same comments are heard at meetings of garden clubs, hiking clubs, knitting clubs, etc. Where are the young people?
Because of the lack of younger people taking up the leadership reins, some outdoor sportsmen’s clubs have been forced to shut down and sell off their assets or consolidate with others, such as in the case with the Lenox Sportsmen’s Club. Members of the Dalton Rod & Gun Club, Lakewood Sportsmen’s Club and a couple archery clubs merged with it. Lucky is the outdoor sports club that has one or two younger folks stepping up to take on officer or director duties.
A few years back, I did a quick tally of the various outdoor sportsmen’s clubs that existed here in the Berkshires in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Using old newspaper articles written by former outdoor columnist Ted Giddings as my source, I stopped counting when I reached 20 local clubs that no longer exist. Watershed groups such as the Housatonic River Watershed Association and the Friends of the Williams River had to shut down and transfer their treasuries due to lack of new, younger members taking the reins.
So where are the needed young people who will take over running these clubs that over the years built wonderful club houses, shooting and archery ranges, acquired property, etc. for future generations to use. Well, I guess they are no longer interested in the hunting and fishing sports.
We can speculate as to the reasons why.
Some blame the parents, claiming they are too busy to take them hunting or fishing or because they themselves are no longer interested in such sports. That could be true for I see more grandparents spending time taking kids fishing than the parents these days.
Perhaps it’s because kids have no time because they are tied up in school sports with competitions and/or practices now occurring on the weekends.
Perhaps they can’t put down their smartphones and devices and prefer to live in the virtual world instead of the real one where they can experience the sights, sounds and smells of mother nature.
Oh, they are missing so much – the thrill of a leaping wild speckled brook trout in a bubbly stream, the sound of yelping wild turkeys at the crack of dawn, the steaming cup of coffee sipped in the chilly early morning duck blind or the crackling sound of a campfire at the end of the day.
Many of us older folks relish the fond memories of hunting or fishing with now departed family members and friends. Photo albums periodically refresh those memories. I can’t help but wonder what memories the youth of today will carry forward. Will they be of computer games?
It’s not as though the youngsters are not given opportunities to experience these sports. There are Archery-in-the-School programs, youth archery leagues, youth rifle leagues, youth fishing derbies, youth fishing clinics, after school fly fishing programs, Trout-in-the-Classroom programs (where students hatch and rear trout and then release them into local waters), youth trout stocking events, etc. So why aren’t the kids continuing to participate in these sports?
As far as hunting goes, some speculate that the restrictive gun laws in Massachusetts have prevented or discouraged youths from taking up the sport of hunting. Others suggest that it’s the cost of obtaining the required FID card. Still others feel that hunters and gun owners are being unfairly stigmatized by some in our society and shy away from the sport.
How sad it is that many parents and grandparents no longer can pass on their prized, heirloom hunting guns, fishing rods, extensive outdoor sporting libraries onto the next generation due to its lack of interest in such sports. Hunting and fishing trips that some older folks thought would someday take place with their kids and grandkids will never take place. How sad.
This dilemma is far reaching, not just with the family and clubs, but with state fish and wildlife agencies, too.
Recently, representatives from nearly 30 organizations gathered at MassWildlife’s Field Headquarters for an R3 Summit. (R3 is a national movement to Recruit, Retain, and Reactivate hunters, anglers, and shooting sports participants.) The gathering allowed partners to collaborate on ways to support and grow outdoor recreation in Massachusetts.
The R3 initiative is a response to ongoing state and national trends. According to MassWildlife statistics, participation in fishing and hunting peaked in Massachusetts in 1988. Since then, fishing has declined by 40% and hunting by 58%. These downward trends are occurring nationally as well, which has led to a movement to reconnect and introduce people to these outdoor pursuits and keep outdoor recreation relevant to future generations.
“Getting outside is critical to our well-being and improves our quality of life,” said Tom O’Shea, MA Department of Fish and Game Commissioner. “We are committed to working with partners to equitably connect more people with nature and to make the outdoors more welcoming and accessible to everyone.”
Historically, hunters were one of the first conservation groups in the U.S. to recognize the importance of protecting open space for wildlife species. Most state fish and wildlife agencies, like MassWildlife, are heavily dependent on the revenue from hunting and fishing licenses and dedicated federal funds to support their state’s conservation programs. Therefore, declines in hunting and fishing participation have a direct impact on conservation funding at a time when habitat and species conservation are more important than ever. Though numbers may be dwindling, hunters and anglers remain the backbone of numerous management and conservation efforts across the country through advocacy, funding, species management, and volunteer time.
“No single organization can provide all the resources needed to recruit, retain, and reactivate anglers, hunters, and shooting sports participants,” said Mark Tisa, Director of MassWildlife. “Building and maintaining strong partnerships brings a diversity of perspectives and builds more capacity to provide expanded R3 programming here in the Commonwealth.”
Summit participants heard from state and national speakers about outdoor recreation participation trends, best practices for R3 efforts, and ways to improve educational programs that teach people how to hunt and fish. They also had the chance to collaborate on participation barriers and opportunities specific to Massachusetts
“There are many groups here in Massachusetts working to teach and grow participation,” commented Keith Fritze, Massachusetts chapter president of the National Wild Turkey Federation. “The Summit allowed us to come together and think about how each of our organizations, each with our own areas of expertise, can combine efforts and work towards a common goal.”
MassWildlife has been working towards R3 goals for years—offering a variety of outdoor skills programs, improving resources to support new hunters and anglers, and expanding access to lands and waters open to hunting and fishing.
The Summit, along with the release of the Massachusetts R3 Plan, mark a new chapter and a renewed commitment to building a strong outdoor coalition through collaboration and partnership. I encourage you to read it. To access the 18-page R3 Plan, click onto https//www.mass.gov/doc/masswildlife-r3/plan/download.
MassWildlife Director Mark Tisa had these words about the R3 Plan, “Everyone reading this message understands the importance of this R3 initiative and what it means for preserving the outdoor traditions so many of us grew up with. But we can’t do it alone. No single organization can provide all the resources needed to recruit, retain, and reactivate participants, and diversity in perspective is especially important if we hope to reach the broadest audience possible. To succeed, and I know we can, we must all step up as equal partners now to implement this plan, because each partner has unique expertise and resources to bring to the table. Ultimately, partnerships are the key to successful R3 programs, and we are counting on you. I look forward to intensifying our collective efforts to increase participation in hunting, fishing, and shooting sports in the Commonwealth.”