Video: “The Currency of Conservation: Archery’s Impact”

A new educational video “The Currency of Conservation: Archery’s Impact” is available for industry members to use and share. The 3.5-minute video will help people understand how federal excise taxes are collected, distributed and used for conservation projects.

The video was completed through a 2021 multistate conservation grant awarded to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. ATA staff helped facilitate the connection between Easton Technical Products, Hoyt, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources through the Partner with a Payer program, which works to increase the understanding between manufacturers who pay excise taxes and state agencies who use them.

ATA’s Vice President and Chief Conservation Officer Dan Forster said the video sheds light on the FET process and will be a useful resource for educators and the industry.

“This video provides an incredible educational tool for hunters and conservationists as it captures the essence of collaboration, criticality, and history of the partnerships forged between excise tax-paying manufacturers like Easton and the wildlife and habitat work done by state fish and wildlife agencies through the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program,” he said. “This quality production shares the story of conservation funding in the United States and why we are so blessed to have abundant wildlife, quality habitat, hunting, and robust access paid for through this incredible conservation funding model.”

In short, archery manufacturers pay federal excise taxes under the Wildlife Restoration Act, more commonly called the Pittman-Robertson Act, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributes the funds to state agencies to use on projects that benefit wildlife, wild places and the outdoor community.

As Craig Springer of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said, products are essentially the currency for conservation. Easton hosted the event at the Easton Archery Center in Salt Lake City.

“We had a lot of fun hosting representatives from federal and state fish and wildlife agencies and the ATA at our Utah manufacturing facility,” said Aaron Lucky, president of Easton Technical Products. “It was a great opportunity to showcase Easton while learning more about the impact that archery's federal excise tax dollars have on conservation. Archers should take pride knowing the vital role they play in the preservation of critical habitats and wildlife resources.”

Tom Decker of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, "The leadership and vision that the archery manufacturers demonstrated in the 1970s, whereby their products would fund conservation, public target shooting and hunting opportunities was a notable contribution to the shaping of our abundant wildlife populations, habitat protection programs and archery programs in the United States."

ATA members, state wildlife agencies, nongovernmental organizations, consumer organizations and others can use the video in their marketing and communications efforts.

For more information, contact Allison Jasper, ATA’s senior director of marketing and communications, at allisonjasper@archerytrade.org or (507) 233-8136.

 

NASP Certifies Its 100,000th Basic Archery Instructor

Nov. 16, 2022, was an exciting day for the National Archery in the Schools Program. Unbeknownst to basic archery instructor (BAI) candidate Mike Jones of Indiana, he was the 100,000th BAI to successfully complete the NASP BAI certification.

After completing his own certification to start NASP instruction at the junior/senior high school he instructs, Mike excitedly returned to his school district where he influenced the middle school to adopt the program.

Since 2002, NASP has offered in-school archery instruction for 20 million students in grades 4-12. During the 20th year of operation, NASP can now boast certifying more than 100,000 basic archery instructors.

When asked about choosing NASP, Jones said, “I am new to school archery and was not aware there are other programs available. When I heard about NASP and how structured it was using the 11 steps to teach the students to shoot, and all the safety features built into every aspect, I knew we had to have it at our school.

“I think NASP will be good to teach teamwork and responsibility. I am a special education teacher and plan to use archery with my students. It will give these students structure and a step-by-step method to complete the process.”

Congratulations to Mike Jones, and all NASP basic archery instructors who completed their training and continue to change lives, one arrow at a time. Click here for more information about bringing NASP to your school.

 

Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops Donates to Hurricane Relief

Bass Pro Shops Founder Johnny Morris recently announced two major initiatives to help its staff and communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. From November 1 through the end of 2022, Bass Pro Shops will donate 10% of all sales from its location in Fort Myers, Florida, to the Bass Pro Cares Fund to assist employees impacted by the storm. During the same time, Morris announced mobilization of the Outdoor Fund across the state of Florida to generate customer donations to support residents impacted by the storm in Florida.

Between now and the end of the year, in addition to the $60,000 already committed, Johnny Morris pledged to donate 10 percent of all sales from the Fort Myers store (with the exception of boats, ATVs and firearms). It is anticipated that this donation will provide an investment of at least $1 million to help support Bass Pro Shops employees at the Fort Myers store who are dealing with extreme hardships.

“I had the opportunity to visit our Fort Myers team after the storm,” Morris said. “It was very emotional. I couldn’t be any prouder of this group of people for how they carry themselves, for how they’re looking out for each other and for what they mean to each other, to their community and to our company. We are humbled by the opportunity to help our friends, neighbors, fellow Outfitters (Bass Pro employees) and fellow sportsmen and women as they rebuild their homes and community."

In addition to the donation to the Bass Pro Cares Fund, Johnny Morris announced mobilization of customer donation efforts across Florida to aid residents impacted by the storm in the state. During the months of November and December, customer donations across all 12 Bass Pro Shops and World Wide Sportsman locations in the Sunshine State will be routed to support Convoy of Hope and its work to help its friends, neighbors and fellow sportsmen and women in the face of devastation wrought by Hurricane Ian. Through these in-store and online donations—whereby customers add funds onto their transactions—sportsmen and women shopping in Destin, Tallahassee, Orlando, Islamorada, Miami and other Florida communities can support their friends and neighbors in Fort Myers when they need it most.

Bass Pro Shops is promoting this donation campaign through a series of retail signs in its stores. During this time, the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund (an incredibly powerful force that normally helps drive the company’s acclaimed commitment to conservation) and all customer donations in Florida will be mobilized to support Convoy of Hope and the group’s hurricane recovery efforts. Bass Pro Shops has a long history of providing support in the aftermath of storms and natural disasters in communities across the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean and around the United States.

Since its founding in 2016, the Bass Pro Cares Fund – initiated by Johnny’s daughter, Megan, has provided more than $1 million to help employees of Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, White River Marine Group and Big Cedar Lodge facing unexpected crisis. Funded by the generosity of the more than 40,000 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s employees and by donations made by Morris himself, the Bass Pro Shops Cares Fund has issued grants to help employees and their families after natural disasters, accidents, illnesses and other unforeseen hardships.

 

Pope and Young Partners With Howl for Wildlife

Pope and Young recently announced a strategic conservation partnership with Howl for Wildlife, a conservation organization that allows the user to reach out to the correct governing authorities on attacks against hunting and our heritage with just one click.

Howl for Wildlife provides streamlined tools and resources in regards to issues surrounding wildlife, hunting and/or fishing management. They also provide the public with streamlined access to officials, decision makers and influencers through industry leading technology. This technology removes the hurdles of finding who to connect with on wildlife issues and instantly connects the public with the right people so they can make their own voices heard in an effective and efficient manner with personalized content that is not a repetitive form letter.

As part of their joint effort to protect your bowhunting rights, every Pope and Young membership purchased from Howl for Wildlifewill receive a free paid Howl Membership.

“As a lifelong bowhunter this partnership really excites me. Pope and Young has been fully supportive of Howl for Wildlife even before we launched it to the public and now, we can finally work together for the same goals,” said Howl for Wildlife Founder/President Charles Whitwam. “This is necessary and really gets the ball rolling for the future of wildlife conservation and hunting as a whole.”