Are there 2 New Jersey's now?
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1048577814314360.xml?starledger?sout
Aun: State launches a hunt for youthful hunters
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger
The state Division of Fish and Wildlife needs to convince New Jersey's youth that hunting for deer (or turkey or pheasant) is more exciting than hunting for songs to download from the Internet.
Doing so would help the division reverse the shocking decline in the number of people that hunt in the state. The division is funded predominantly by hunting and fishing license fees, and officials fear a fiscal disaster if they fail to lure more youngsters away from technology and back to the woods.
"My gut feeling is I think basically there's been a going away from the tradition," said Matt Di Mattia, the division's business administrator. "With the electronic information technology of today, that's what it is. They're just getting away from hunting and fishing."
It might not be apparent, if you base your opinion on the number of folks in orange on Opening Day of 6-day-firearm season, but New Jersey hunters are dwindling quickly. In 1991, the state had 88,263 people with resident hunting licenses. In 1992, the figure was 84,261. By 1996, there were 70,058 and by 1999 the state sold only 59,707 licenses. For the entire decade, there was only one year when the trend was reversed: In 2000, 60,085 people signed up to be hunters. But the slide resumed in 2001, with 56,574 licenses sold and officials are estimating a figure of about 50,000 for 2002.
"It's approximately a 43 percent decrease from 1991 to 2002," Di Mattia lamented. "Fishing shows a 41 percent decrease over the same period."
He said he realizes the division can't do very much to change society. Hunting and fishing has lost popularity due, in large part, to forces beyond the state's control. For example, Di Mattia feels the increase in single-parent homes -- particularly those in which kids are raised by mothers who don't hunt or fish -- is a factor. Heavy work schedules of parents also play a part. Nevertheless, Fish and Wildlife cannot afford to do nothing. This week it will be mailing postcards to current and former anglers, hoping to convince the latter that fishing is a great family-bonding activity.
"Basically, it's reminding people about the upcoming fishing season, saying that fishing is good, come out and fish," Di Mattia said. "It's a nice postcard. There's a cutesy girl in a boat with her grand-dad ... It's a start, but it's the tip of the iceberg in terms of a marketing campaign."
Getting people to hunt might be tougher. Before the state can mount any campaign to bolster those ranks, it needs to find out why hunting is so drastically declining. Di Mattia said the state really needs to conduct a sophisticated survey of hunters and ex-hunters.
"A good survey should be designed to get somebody to tell you a little more than yes or no answers," he noted. "Yes or no answers are not good. You don't learn anything about behavior. But if you get them to talk about what the problem is, you get to the root of the problem, and you can then do various steps toward a solution."
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1048577814314360.xml?starledger?sout
Aun: State launches a hunt for youthful hunters
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
BY FRED J. AUN
For the Star-Ledger
The state Division of Fish and Wildlife needs to convince New Jersey's youth that hunting for deer (or turkey or pheasant) is more exciting than hunting for songs to download from the Internet.
Doing so would help the division reverse the shocking decline in the number of people that hunt in the state. The division is funded predominantly by hunting and fishing license fees, and officials fear a fiscal disaster if they fail to lure more youngsters away from technology and back to the woods.
"My gut feeling is I think basically there's been a going away from the tradition," said Matt Di Mattia, the division's business administrator. "With the electronic information technology of today, that's what it is. They're just getting away from hunting and fishing."
It might not be apparent, if you base your opinion on the number of folks in orange on Opening Day of 6-day-firearm season, but New Jersey hunters are dwindling quickly. In 1991, the state had 88,263 people with resident hunting licenses. In 1992, the figure was 84,261. By 1996, there were 70,058 and by 1999 the state sold only 59,707 licenses. For the entire decade, there was only one year when the trend was reversed: In 2000, 60,085 people signed up to be hunters. But the slide resumed in 2001, with 56,574 licenses sold and officials are estimating a figure of about 50,000 for 2002.
"It's approximately a 43 percent decrease from 1991 to 2002," Di Mattia lamented. "Fishing shows a 41 percent decrease over the same period."
He said he realizes the division can't do very much to change society. Hunting and fishing has lost popularity due, in large part, to forces beyond the state's control. For example, Di Mattia feels the increase in single-parent homes -- particularly those in which kids are raised by mothers who don't hunt or fish -- is a factor. Heavy work schedules of parents also play a part. Nevertheless, Fish and Wildlife cannot afford to do nothing. This week it will be mailing postcards to current and former anglers, hoping to convince the latter that fishing is a great family-bonding activity.
"Basically, it's reminding people about the upcoming fishing season, saying that fishing is good, come out and fish," Di Mattia said. "It's a nice postcard. There's a cutesy girl in a boat with her grand-dad ... It's a start, but it's the tip of the iceberg in terms of a marketing campaign."
Getting people to hunt might be tougher. Before the state can mount any campaign to bolster those ranks, it needs to find out why hunting is so drastically declining. Di Mattia said the state really needs to conduct a sophisticated survey of hunters and ex-hunters.
"A good survey should be designed to get somebody to tell you a little more than yes or no answers," he noted. "Yes or no answers are not good. You don't learn anything about behavior. But if you get them to talk about what the problem is, you get to the root of the problem, and you can then do various steps toward a solution."
