How does fish and wildlife conservation create strong local economies?
Wildlife-associated recreation contributed $560 million in expenditures to New Hampshire’s economy in 2006, according to the 2006 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. This spending often takes place in the “shoulder” seasons of spring and late fall, when fewer tourists are visiting or traveling in New Hampshire. Of this total, anglers spent $172 million; hunters spent $75 million, wildlife watchers spent $274 million (plus participants spent an additional $39 million on trips and equipment related to more than one of these activities). Anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers spent $108 million on food and lodging in New Hampshire, based on the 2006 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. According to Southwick Associates, hunting and fishing expenditures in New Hampshire support 4,552 jobs and more than $108 million in salaries and wages. In 1998, the Nationa
