(Sept. 29, 2004) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today signed a four-year agreement with the Archery Trade Association, the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance and ArrowSport to increase archery and bowhunting opportunities while building on bowhunters’ support for wildlife conservation.

ATA/BPA President and CEO Jay McAninch, left, and Director Steve Williams of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday in Atlantic City, N.J.

“This is another example where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is strengthening partnerships with the hunting community,” Service Director Steve Williams said. “These groups are on the forefront of wildlife conservation in the nation. Since 1985, excise taxes paid on bows and arrows have contributed more than $320 million to state conservation programs.”

The agreement, known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was signed Tuesday, Sept. 27, in Atlantic City, N.J., during the annual conference of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The ATA/BPA also signed MOUs that day with wildlife agencies from Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee.

Specifically, the agreement encourages bowhunting -- wherever compatible -- on units in the National Wildlife Refuge System, ensures the collection of conservation funding under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, and helps states use these funds for archery and bowhunting-related recreational programs.

“This agreement goes well beyond the industry and the service. It includes all the archery and bowhunting interest groups,” said Jay McAninch, CEO and president of the Archery Trade Association, the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance, and ArrowSport. “Our agreement underscores bowhunting as a conservation tool that is important for wildlife management and recreation across the country.”

The service administers the Wildlife Restoration Program by distributing excise taxes collected on hunting equipment to each state wildlife agency for a variety of approved projects. These projects include the construction of archery ranges; bowhunter education and training; archery education in schools; mentoring programs; and urban, youth and special hunts. The money to fund the program is generated, in part, by excise taxes on bows and arrows paid by the archery and bowhunting industry. The Wildlife Restoration Program allocated nearly $204 million to state fish and wildlife agencies in fiscal year 2004.

The Bowhunting Preservation Alliance and ArrowSport, both nonprofit foundations, receive substantial funding and support from the Archery Trade Association, the archery and bowhunting industry, and archery and bowhunting organizations.

Hunting is permitted on 308 national wildlife refuges around the nation. To find out about bowhunting opportunities, contact your local refuge.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of Americans. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas.

The F&WS also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 F&WS management offices, and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.