Effective fish and wildlife management requires meaningful interaction with all segments of society, not just the people who buy hunting and fishing licenses. States’ mission statements often reflect their broad responsibilities on behalf of all residents; however, significant segments of the public may not be aware of their state fish and wildlife agency at all, much less its responsibilities, services, and benefits provided. These issues were documented in recent public perceptions/relevancy research in the Southeastern US and are likely especially pronounced in the urbanized Northeastern US. According to the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, only 3% of the New England population hunts, as compared to 11% of the Middle Atlantic states. Also, some of the highest percentage of people distanced from wildlife reside in northeastern states (Manfredo et al., 2018). Give this information, there is the potential for states to have conflict with the public who may not agree with or understand states’ priorities and actions. For agencies to be publicly relevant in the face of a declining user base, an urbanizing population, and a need to better engage with under-served communities, there must be a deeper understanding of the majority who do not buy hunting or fishing licenses. Similarly, state agencies have a limited understanding of how they are perceived by the public, especially by non-traditional stakeholders. Together, these issues hinder states’ abilities to effectively deliver programs relevant to the diverse range of constituencies they are charged to serve. This project will help state fish and wildlife agencies understand the public’s awareness of their core functions and perceived effectiveness, the priorities and responsibilities expected of state agencies, preferred funding structures, and more. The results will help state agencies engage and serve their many diverse publics and improve public acceptance and support to carry out conservation and public use of resources managed under the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration Acts. Eleven of the NEAFWA states will be engaged to identify their public programs and responsibilities, along with their current management challenges. For each state, two online surveys will be developed to capture the opinions and perceptions of:

1. residents not engaged in traditional state managed activities (fishing, hunting, and trapping), and
2. residents who identify as traditional stakeholders, for comparative purposes.

We will obtain up to 1,000 responses from non-traditional stakeholders to gather insights for unique geographic, demographic, and socio/ cultural audiences, and up to another 1,000 responses from traditional audiences. The methods will replicate and build upon the currently funded MSCG projects, “The Public’s Perceived Importance and View of State Fish and Wildlife Agencies”, completed in the SEAFWA states and currently underway in the MAFWA states. Being the representative organization for Northeastern states fish and wildlife agencies, NEAFWA understands states’ needs, has been focused on relevancy topics on behalf of states but has yet to connect with the general public about their perceptions and preferences. No other funding sources are available or known to address this issue at the regional level, hence the need for multi-state conservation grant funding.