"Boaters and anglers are the first line of defense in protecting the quality of our waterways," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, whose department is the primary Federal partner in the new campaign. "They care about clean and fishable waters and they pay the biggest chunk of our Nations aquatic resources conservation bill through license sales, excise taxes on boat fuels and fishing equipment, and other user fees. By passing the 1998 Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act, Congress recognized the need to increase the ranks of this conservation army by reversing recent declines in boating and angling participation."
"The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation stands ready to begin what is really an unprecedented communications campaign on behalf of boating and fishing," said Tom Bedell, president of Outdoor Technologies Group and chairman of the new foundation. "We strongly believe that Americans who use our Nations precious aquatic resources to fish and boat will take better care of them, ensuring healthy fisheries and a strong conservation legacy for years to come."
The Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act directed the Interior Secretary to develop, in cooperation with the Federally chartered Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, a national outreach plan to encourage greater public interest and participation in boating and fishing. The plan also aims to provide more information about recreational boating and angling opportunities, reduce barriers to participation in the activities, and promote conservation and the responsible use of aquatic resources. During the spring and summer of 1998, the council sponsored an extensive series of regional and national public meetings to identify issues that hamper boating and fishing.
"We cast as wide a net as possible to involve the maximum number of agencies, organizations, and industry leaders in this effort," said Council Chairwoman Helen Sevier, who is also chief executive officer of the Bass Angler Sportsman Society. "This was probably the most extensive boating and fishing stakeholder input effort ever conducted within such a tight timeframe. The baseline information we collected during this process has been invaluable in developing a plan we are now ready to put into action."
Following the stakeholder meetings, the council named an outreach planning team to review and distill the raw data and draft a plan. The resulting Strategic Plan for the National Outreach and Communication Program was completed September 15, 1998, and approved by Interior Secretary Babbitt February 23, 1999. A cooperative agreement establishing the framework for Federal funding of the foundation was signed March 28 by Bedell and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director John Rogers during a ceremony at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Burlingame, California.
From the 1960s through the 1980s, boating and fishing participation grew at a rate that outpaced U.S. population growth. During the 1990s, however, boating and fishing growth rates slowed dramatically and actually declined in some areas. Florida, for example, reported a three percent decline in freshwater fishing license sales between 1995 and 1996, during which time the states population was actually growing by 700 people a day. Studies indicate that boating and fishing participants are predominantly male Caucasians, yet experts believe future U.S. population growth will occur mainly among minority population segments.
The strategic plan lists five objectives to increase public interest and participation in boating and fishing:
o Create a nationally recognized theme for the campaign. o Educate people about how and where to boat and fish. o Target market segments and tailor messages for these segments. o Educate boating and fishing stakeholders about marketing, outreach, and implementation of strategies to targeted user groups. o Improve access to boating and fishing.
"Weve got a good plan and we are going to take it to every corner of the country, from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Bakersfield, to introduce millions of American men and women to the fun they can have on the water," Bedell said.
The foundation will be located in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The foundations president and chief executive officer is expected to be named soon.
Members of the foundations board are: Tom Bedell, President, Outdoor Technologies Group; Earl Bentz, President, Triton Boats; Phil Dyskow, Representing the Chairman of the Board, Yamaha MarineWilliam Engfer, President, NASBLA; Doug Hansen, Director, South Dakota Division of Wildlife; Mike Hayden, President, American Sportfishing Association; Bill Klyn, Chairman of the Board, American Fly Fishing Trade Association
