A new report indicates hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing activities across the 246 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the West generated $3 billion dollars for the U.S. economy. Those activities also supported 26,500 jobs.
Titled “Quantifying the Economic Contributions of Wildlife-Related Recreation on BLM Lands,” data from the report shows Americans made an estimated 3.1 million trips for hunting, 2.8 million trips for fishing and 2.2 million trips for wildlife-viewing recreation across 12 western states in 2016.
“Hunting on BLM lands supported an estimated 11,693 jobs resulting in $447 million of income in the Western region in 2016 (Table R-4). In terms of jobs, hunting was followed by fishing, which supported an additional 10,189 jobs, and wildlife-viewing, which supported 4,619 jobs,” the report states. “Fishing and wildlife-viewing collectively contributed to $550 million of income. Hunting contributed nearly $1.5 billion to the region’s economic output, fishing contributed $1.3 billion, and wildlife-viewing contributed $560 million.”
The report also breaks down data on a state-by-state basis. Go here to view it.