Unbeknownst to most New Yorkers, the state has been carrying on an expensive British tradition of hunting flashy Chinese birds. For nearly a century New York state has been raising and releasing pheasants on the Richard E. Reynolds Game Farm near Ithaca. Each year the state produces about 100,000 live birds (95,309 in 2009). Only 19 states still stock pheasants, which costs $10-$12 per adult bird, says Casey Pheiffer, an HSUS wildlife abuse expert.
Budget-conscious governors have been trying to kill off the program for decades. Only 3% of New Yorkers hunt while 23% like to watch wildlife. Gov. David Patterson tried to cut it 2008, noting it could save the state up to $750,000. The first Gov. Cuomo tried to get rid of it in 1991. But the pheasant hunters, backed by the NRA, always win out.
The members of the CFAB would like to remind you that the hunting, fishing and trapping community in New York State is the only interest group that funds the management of the resources that are important to them. Hunting, fishing and trapping license sales generate approximately $47 million dollars per year and leverage millions more in federal aid as a direct result of the license sale revenue. In addition, hunting, fishing and trapping generates an estimated $3.5 billion to the state economy on a yearly basis, supporting thousands of jobs across New York.
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Where to SEE WEIRD BIRDS (All the interesting birds: pelicans, puffins, prairie chickens, vultures, hummingbirds) |
SEE ANIMALS IN THE NORTHEAST (NY, NJ, MD, MA, ME, NH, VT, CT, RI, PA) |
Money spent on | Fishing |
Hunting
|
Wildlife-Watching
|
Connecticut | $230,348,000 |
$68,898,000
|
$533,718,000
|
Maine | $256,252,000 |
$240,318,000
|
$817,867,000
|
Massachusetts | $669,574,000 |
$77,596,000
|
$771,062,000
|
New Hampshire | $177,624,000 |
$80,404,000
|
$266,966,000
|
Rhode Island | $147,097,000 |
$10,012,000
|
$182,953,000
|
New Jersey | $746,274,000 |
$137,149,000
|
$631,746,000
|
New York | $928,943,000 |
$682,661,000
|
$1,550,628,000
|
Pennsylvania | $1,252,380,000 |
$1,446,014,000
|
$1,269,927,000
|
Vermont | $61,861,000 |
$188,363,000
|
$128,222,000
|
In the mid-Atlantic (NY,NJ, PA), 27% of people are wildlife watchers while only 5% hunt. Four in 10 New Englanders are wildlife watchers while only 3% hunt.
PARTICIPANTS | Fishing | % | Hunting | % | Wildlife Watching | % |
U.S. TOTAL | 29,962,000 | 13 | 12,534,000 | 5 | 71,0068,000 | 31 |
CT | 293,000 | 11 | 40,000 | 1 | 1,102,000 | 40 |
DE | 76,000 | 11 | 22,000 | 3 | 212,000 | 32 |
ME | 226,000 | 21 | 148,000 | 14 | 612,000 | 57 |
MD | 482,000 | 11 | 148,000 | 3 | 1,334,000 | 31 |
MA | 458,000 | 9 | 67,000 | 1 | 1,726,000 | 34 |
NH | 126,000 | 12 | 51,000 | 5 | 480,000 | 46 |
NJ | 534,000 | 8 | 86,000 | 1 | 1,537,000 | 23 |
NY | 1,004,000 | 7 | 513,000 | 3 | 3,482,000 | 23 |
PA | 988,000 | 10 | 920,000 | 9 | 3,638,000 | 37 |
RI | 83,000 | 10 | 13,000 | 2 | 313,000 | 37 |
VT | 70,000 | 14 | 58,000 | 11 | 279,000 | 55 |
Source: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated
[…] deforestation elsewhere. The New York state government pays over a million dollars a year to stock pheasants for hunting, costing about $10 per adult bird. It’s confusing that the hunters would not fund […]
[…] money and land raising colorful birds from China and letting them go in our ecosystem? No. But we an incredible 19 states pay to raise and release pheasants, a bird native to China. They spend $10-$12 per adult bird, says Casey Pheiffer, an HSUS wildlife […]
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