Funding for Wildlife Management

In 1937, visionary legislators created a dedicated funding source for wildlife management called the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, also known as Pittman-Robertson Act (or PR funding). The money for this funding comes from an excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment. The PR program established a partnership between hunters, firearms manufacturers, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state wildlife management agencies like the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, to ensure that wildlife management programs are funded and that those paying for the program (i.e., hunters) will see the vast majority of the funds go to programs directly benefiting game species in their state.

Of the total funds collected nationwide each year, each state receives a portion that is determined based on the land area of the state and the number of hunting licenses sold. In Maine, 75% of the salaries and operating costs of our research and regional management staff that work with game animals are paid for by Pittman-Robertson (PR) dollars. Without PR funds, our management programs for deer, moose, bear, furbearers, and upland game, and our habitat management programs with private landowners and on state wildlife management areas (WMAs), would be significantly limited.

Hunting is much more than a traditional pastime in Maine; it is also an essential part of Maine's economic fabric. On average per year, hunting generates more than $240 million in retail sales activity and helps support thousands of full- and part-time jobs in the state, which pay out almost $130 million in salaries and wages. These wage and employment benefits are not concentrated in only one or two economic sectors; they are shared across many sectors of the Maine economy. These income benefits are particularly important in rural or remote areas of the state, where much hunting takes place.