TORN TASTER Lutedsted ANIMAL ADVOCATES of Western New York Every five years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sponsors a survey of fishing, hunting, and —_wildlife- associated recreation conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The latest survey, published in 2011, reports that 37.4 million U.S. residents 16 years and older went fishing and/or hunting. That number may be large, but it is not as large as the number of wildlife-watehers: there were 71.8 million of them reported in the U.S. Hunting Minority,still Exerts Undue Political UT Tex life-watchers, 4,239,000. The number of days hunters went hunting: 18,433,000, spending, $1,564,205,000. Anglers went fishing 29,874,000 days, spending $1,962,538,000. Wildlife watchers (observing, photographing, or feeding wildlife) spent $4,151,790,000. in their activities for 22,814,000 days away from home. Another way to break down the numbers is to look at the percent of total participants by activ- ity. Of the 5.5 million, wildlife watchers ac~ counted for 77%; anglers 34%; and hunters only 15%. continued on next page > 6 .SUMMER 2015 In spite of the smaller percentage of hunters and anglers in New York State, the Department of Environmental. Conservation remains committed {0 improving and promoting opportunities for this vocal minority. In his 2015 State of the State report, Governor Cuomo declares that he “has taken innovative steps to enhance New York's rich fishing and hunting traditions by making licenses cheaper and easier to get, legalizing crossbow hunting, restoring fish hatcheries, and opening up new fishing and hunting access.” In the same document, he reveals that in 2014 he opened up 380,000 acres of state-owned land to hunters, anglers, and wildlife-watchers. He intends to commit $8 million to open up more state-owned land for these activities in 2015. Sources and Further Reading: governor:ny:gov/sites/governorny.gov/files! atoms/files/2015_Opportunity_Agenda_Book.paf census.gov/prod/2013pubs/fhwI1-ny.pat Perhaps it’s time for us—the non-hunting public—to begin to insist on a voice for wildlife in New York, and in the United States, for that matter, For too long a vocal minority has had the upper hand in control of policies concerning. wildlife, and it has proven disastrous. iX-Velel Siew al-wiele us—the non-hunting public—to begin to insist Clie oll del ‘As noted author and founder of the Fund for Animals Cleveland Amory wrote over forty years ago in his landmark book, Man Kind? Our Incredible War on Wildlife: “Fish and game departments must be reconstituted, so that the non-hunter may not be only represented, but represented in the proportion that his numbers warrant. State conservation and natural resources commissions too must be totally reorganized. They have no business in the promotion of this billion dollar butchery..The hour is late and the animals’ need is great. It is past high time for all of us to be a voice for the voiceless, to speak for those who can’t, to work together for the most oppressed minority of them all.”