Partner with a Payer

Partner with a Payer is an initiative of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program.

Partner with a Payer is a national initiative designed to strengthen partnerships and increase collaboration and understanding among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state fish and wildlife agencies, and manufacturers who either pay excise taxes on firearms, archery, and angling equipment, or support the motorboat fuel tax by the products they manufacture. This initiative increases manufacturers’ awareness of excise tax funded projects and allows state and federal staff to better understand the role of manufacturers in the support of national conservation funding.

Two types of events are held to support this important partnership: field tours and facility tours.

Field Tours

Field tours invite industry representatives to unforgettable in-the-field experiences that illustrate the many ways these funds are used to make conservation happen, through fish and wildlife research, habitat conservation, shooting facilities, fish hatcheries and stocking, hunter and aquatic education, and public access to lands and waters.

Highlight: Video or Image and Video Lightbox

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Facility Tours

Facility tours invite state fish and wildlife agency representatives to manufacturing facilities to learn about the craft that goes into the products that are taxed, and whose manufacture results in a critical funding source for state fish and wildlife agency conservation work.

You make our Great Outdoors even better

Funding for the Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration program, provided by hunters, anglers and boaters via the industries that support them, is a crucial source of support for healthy wildlife and outdoor recreation; by doing what they love, these people and industries contribute to community benefits that everyone can share, including by helping to:

Preserve a Species

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In the 1970s, populations of the Atlantic striped bass collapsed along the East Coast. Through the efforts of state and federal agencies, striped bass recovered in the 1990s and remain stable, yielding $6.6 billion in economic impact from recreational fishing.

Enjoy beautiful places

Our country is home to some of the most breathtaking scenery on Earth, and healthy habitats sustain our fish, wildlife, and plants. State agencies use their Wildlife Restoration funds to provide public access and habitat management to 46.9 million acres of land in the United States (almost 2% of our country’s total land area).

Teach tomorrow’s leaders

At the Green Mountain Conservation Camps in Vermont, children learn hiking, canoeing, fishing, archery, .22 rifle and shotgun shooting. Campers meet Game Wardens, foresters, and biologists who help kids cultivate a caring attitude for fish and wildlife resources. This is one of many outdoor education projects made possible by WSFR funding, which each year supports hunter education for over one million students per year, and aquatic education for almost 1.5 million people.

Study animals and habitats

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In 2015, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources began to reintroduce elk to the state, which had been absent since 1873. More than $6 million of funding helped conserve a 10,852-acre property and allow for research, tagging, and repopulation of elk.

Partners boost our country’s conservation efforts by working hard at what they love.

Firearms & Ammunition

The excise taxes on firearms and ammunition established in 1937 by the Pittman-Robertson (PR) Act have been used by state fish and wildlife agencies for public access, hunter education, research, and new facilities to pursue our passions and hone our skills.

Archery

Since 1972, the excise taxes on archery equipment established in the Pittman-Robertson (PR) Act have been used by state fish and wildlife agencies for public access, hunter education, research and new facilities to pursue our passions and hone our skills.

Angling

Since 1950, the excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel established by the Dingell-Johnson (DJ) Act have been used by state fish and wildlife agencies for public boating and fishing access, fish hatcheries and stocking programs, water quality monitoring, sport fish research and aquatic education.

Motorboat Fuel

A portion of the excise taxes on certain marine items established by the Dingell-Johnson (DJ) Act have been used by state fish and wildlife agencies for public boating and fishing access, as well as, since 1992, for Clean Vessel Act (CVA) grants that pay for the construction, renovation, operation, and maintenance of pump out stations and waste reception facilities for recreational boaters, and since 1998

State Fish & Wildlife Agencies

States have worked with the Fish and Wildlife Service for over 80 years to achieve regional conservation goals and to provide opportunities to connect people with nature. With our Partner with a Payer Initiative, WSFR wants to help bring more attention to your state’s work, and to help ensure that WSFR stakeholders get the information they need to support our grant programs and understand their relevance.