NEWTOWN, Conn.—NSSF, the trade association for the firearm industry, has announced an initiative designed to strengthen ties between all excise tax-paying manufacturers—firearms and ammunition, archery equipment, marine and sportfishing equipment—and the state agencies that use these funds to conserve wildlife and habitats through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
NSSF has launched a new website that will host videos and other materials that will highlight industry contributions to this partnership. The first video to be unveiled Wednesday, November 17, at 12:00 noon ET focuses on the amazing Ben Avery Shooting Range in Arizona, a state-run facility that would not be possible without excise taxes distributed through Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program.
Since 1937 when the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act was enacted (today better known as the Pittman-Robertson Act), the manufacturers of firearms and ammunition have been part of a network consisting of sportsmen and women, state fish and wildlife agencies and USFWS to collect and distribute excise taxes—some $14 billion during this period—on their products for the benefit of wildlife conservation, hunter education and shooting ranges.
“It is an incredible model of conservation funding that benefits all Americans, not just hunters and target shooters, and helps ensure sustainable wildlife and habitat for future generations. Our industry’s contributions to this program are something we’ve long been proud of, and we want the employees of companies and state agencies to be also, which is why we’re proud to be involved with the Partner with a Payer program,” said NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi.
NSSF recognized that new generations of workers entering industry, state agencies and USFWS will benefit from a better understanding of this public-private partnership. That is why the Partner with a Payer initiative was developed.
Partner with Payer brings together industry and state agency personnel by arranging tours of factory facilities such as those depicted in the video of Patriot Ordnance and Sturm Ruger. “We saw guns being produced, and I saw conservation being produced,” said Cliff Schleusner, Southwest Regional Manager of the USFWS. “The excise taxes on every one of those firearms goes to fund a legacy of conservation in this country that is unequaled.”
Partner with a Payer also arranges for industry employees to see conservation science taking place in the field, such as at black bear research projects. “These connections between industry professionals and state agency scientists and researchers builds long-lasting appreciation for each other’s work and also the funding that makes so much of what we enjoy possible,” said Bartozzi.
There are more videos highlighting additional aspects of this unique public-private partnership that will be added to the site in the weeks to come. The videos were produced by Shine United LLC / Kingdom Filmworks for the National Shooting Sports Foundation through a Multistate Conservation Grant awarded by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.