The Office of Conservation Investment logo

Evan BartowEvan Bartow

Providing Opportunities in the Outdoors – Facilitating Age-Old Heritage and Growing the Trapping Community

by
The 2025 Women’s Trapping Workshop participants pose for a group photo during their three-day trapping education experience.

Trapping is about more than catching furbearer animals, the centuries-old pursuit is also about understanding ecosystems, practicing conservation, and preserving knowledge that has been used to keep landscapes in balance. Trapping practices continue being passed down through generations and today a growing number of new outdoor enthusiasts are taking an interest in the pursuit. Many newcomers are getting involved in trapping through workshops and courses hosted by state fish and wildlife agencies. 

A New Era for Aquatic Conservation and Education at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

by
Texas Parks And Wildlife 2

The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens, Texas, is a hub of aquatic education, fish production, and conservation in the Lone Star State. Since opening in 1996, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) facility has drawn over 1.1 million visitors, offering an in-depth look at the diverse world of Texas’ freshwater ecosystems and how state agencies manage fisheries resources.

An Introduction to Target Shooting in the United States

by
Nasp

Thanks to a change in data collection methodology new to the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation, we can dive into data on target shooters for the first time since the Survey started in 1955. The hot off the press addendum, Target Shooting in the United States, reports that 47 million firearms and 19 million archery target shooters aged six and older fired or flung projectiles in 2021. You’ll notice that both of those numbers make the hunting population look small. Shooting sports are alive and well, and there are some particularly interesting insights when it comes to youth.

First Motorized Boating Addendum Report Records Public Participation Across U.S.

by
Midwest Association Of Fish And Wildlife Agencies

Motorized boating is a popular American outdoor pastime, an economic force, and funds conservation efforts across the Nation. To capture metrics on the time spent outdoors along with the economic impacts of recreational boating, the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation included motorized boating survey questions for the first time in the Survey’s 67-year history.

From a Coupon to Olympic Gold

by
Darrell Pace standing on the Olympic Podium after winning a gold medal

“It started with a coupon,” Darrell Pace told me via a telephone interview from his home in Hamilton, Ohio. “It was a buy an hour, get one-hour free teaser to shoot a bow. I had BB guns and liked to target-shoot, so I thought I would try it out.”

Shoal Bass Habits and Habitats Revealed

by
Shoal bass being held above the water

Form follows function for a fusiform shoal bass, and its common and scientific name are most fitting. This little-known member of the black bass family, kin to the familiar largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, is found only in Georgia, Florida, and a small segment of Alabama in the Apalachicola River basin.  Scientists know it as Micropterus cataractae and that says it all.  It’s a bass most at home in the eddies around frothy falling rocky rapids, or shoals. 

Partner With A Payer