Session of the Week: R3 in Outdoors Activities

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Society is changing in demographics, hobbies and popular culture, but how does this affect the conservation and management of wildlife?

In a symposium titled “Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation of People in Outdoor Activities – The lessons learned and challenges faced by the conservation and outdoor recreation community,” at the upcoming annual TWS conference in Cleveland, speakers will discuss how this shift in participation of outdoor activities, especially hunting, affects natural resources.

“One popular outdoor activity, hunting, has witnessed a loss of more than 2 million people in the past two decades,” the session abstract says.

This shrinking population of hunters threatens the funding of state and federal agency conservation programs. It also changes the relationship of people concerned with natural resources and challenges the North American Model of Conservation.

So, what is a wildlifer to do? In this symposium speakers will discuss different strategies that conservation resource professionals and the outdoor recreation community are using to strategically increase participating in hunting, angling, boating, and the shooting sports through the national R3 initiative. R3, which includes recruitment, retention and reactivation, is a collective effort between NGOs, state and federal wildlife agencies and industry partners working together to bolster the future of wildlife conservation.

During the session, presenters will highlight different efforts these partners are taking, including the development of The National Hunting and Shooting Sports Action Plan (2016).

Speakers will also discuss different ways The Wildlife Society and its members may engage in the R3 process.

The following speakers will discuss different topics relating to R3:

Organizers: Thomas Decker, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts; Samantha Pedder, Council To Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, Washington, D.C.; Zachary Lowe, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Dundee, Illinois.

Supported by: TWS Hunting, Trapping and Conservation Working Group, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, Archery Trade Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation

Lead Organizer: Thomas Decker

Recruitment, Retention & Reactivation: A Conservation Movement That is Important to Natural Resource Professionals:  Samantha J. Pedder

Living the Dream of Many Diverse Programs and Uncertain Outcomes: We Need Evaluation: Matt Dunfee

The Promise and Potential Impacts of R3 Efforts Targeting College Students: Lincoln Larson

The Science of R3: Dr. Jared Duquette

Creation and Implementation of State-Level R3 Strategies: Charles S. Evans