Letter To HAHWG Attendees

Doug Burt is the Hunting and Shooting Sports Program Manager at Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Hunting And Angling Heritage Work Group,

Well you all have done it again - you have all blown me away! The Winter HAHWG meeting had a great turnout and diverse cross-section of participants like I've not seen. Look at this turnout:

• 50 attendees

• 17 first-timers

• 28 organizations represented

• 10 game and fish work units or regions represented

The biggest takeaways from the meeting for me were the following:

• Everyone liked the new one-day meeting format for the winter,

• Unity and common focus / interests,

• Collaborative discussions,

• Buy in to the Adoption Sequence - creating new hunters and anglers is a process (we all contribute), and

• HAHWG is on the national scene, being talked about and modeled after.

We experimented with video presentations to inform, share and trigger discussions and I think they did a great job. Below are links for your use both personally - and to share with your members, groups, or contacts - they really help share a common voice, message and call to action for preserving our heritage.

• VIDEO: North America's Wildlife Conservation Legacy (AFWA), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4L9KicSeU, Discussion of video consisted of threats, challenges, concerns.

• VIDEO: Imagine a World, Save the Hunt (NWTF), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QduAWlzlG3c, Discussion of video consisted of how we are starting to see national unification and efforts for recruitment and retention.

• VIDEO: Kids & Wild Gobblers (AZGFD), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjE08kyLe2g, Discussion of video consisted of what a camp/event can look like, elements of a HAHWG camp, partnerships, types of events, best practices, what it takes to be a hunter, etc.

Breakfast and lunch were sponsored by Youth Outdoors Unlimited, Mule Deer Foundation & Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association Shotgun Division - Thank you!! The fantastic HAHWG-pleasing food from "Muffin but the Best" was a huge hit. They do catering around the state and can be reached at (602) 373-1536

Save The Dates

July 11-12 - Flagstaff Nordic Center, Flagstaff – Summer HAHWG Meeting

Tentative Topics: Report from Focus Group Study of past HAHWG participants, what makes "retention," online event registration system, and 2015-16 season kick-off

April 16-19 Youth Turkey Camps (See video noted above; it's a great chance to see an event if you are new to HAHWG.)

May 1 (est.) Local Sportsman's Group Grant opens.

June 9 Fall Draw deadline

Late-July (est) Draw results

Sept. 1 – Dove season

PR Opportunity

I'd also like to introduce and extend an invite to each of you to connect with KTAR radio host Mike Russell. He is an outdoor enthusiast and advocate. His show airs noon-2 on Saturdays and he is a fan of hosting guests and promoting positive activities, programs and such. Please introduce yourself.

Mike Russell, KTAR, Go Outdoors

Get Outdoors With Mike Russell - KTAR.com

http://ktar.com/332/1706997/Get-Outdoors-With-Mike-Russell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getoutdoorsaz

[ Editor's Note: Articles are welcome at Arizona Boating & Watersports/Western Outdoor Times: editor@azbw.com ]

HAHWG Focus And 'Why' Of Recruitment and Retention

I was thinking about why we do what we do, and I took a stab at what I thought that looked like. In the end, it's all about species and habitat; the other elements are critical, but they are for that end purpose.

1. Species and habitat

2. Conservation model - user pay, public benefit, and public trust

3. Recruitment and retention - funding source of wildlife management, and voice for citizenry

4. Save the heritage - activities and passions we love

Very respectfully and humbly yours,

Douglas Burt

dburt@azgfd.gov

(623) 236-7487 Desk

(602) 531-7578 Cell/Text

Visit http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoorskills for a list of mentored events.

Visit http://www.azgfd.gov/hahwg to learn more about the Hunting and Angling Heritage Workgroup.

"...The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others."- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

"When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." - Theodore Roosevelt