The non-financial participation of birders in the acquisition and management of exceptionally fine birding areas that were paid for by hunters and fisherman is always a contentious one, on all sides of this many-sided issue. 

The fact that the Ohio Division of Wildlife gets the vast majority of its operating funds from the sale of hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses has been noted.

But what hasn’t been mentioned are the excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, and fishing gear allowed by the Pittman-Robertson Act and the related Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act. These taxes on sportsmen have were instigated by hunting and fishing groups, and are fully supported by them.

Should there not be, then, a similar conservation excise tax on binoculars, bird guides, and bird feed? Why not? 

–John Blakeman



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