Ensuring Healthy Habitats and Wildlife Abundance Through Policy and Partnerships

CSF has numerous longstanding partnerships with habitat-focused non-government organizations such as: B.A.S.S., Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation, Mule Deer Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ruffed Grouse Society and Wild Sheep Foundation.  A key component of our conservation platform is to ensure these organizations can leverage the public’s investments in conservation with private funding and philanthropic giving to advance their respective missions.  At both the state and federal level, CSF works strategically to sustain and/or expand programs - often authorized and funded through the policymaking process - so that our partners have the resources needed to drive leveraged, on-the-ground conservation.

Existing programs such as the Farm Bill’s conservation title ($6 billion), North American Wetlands Conservation Act ($60 million), the Land and Water Conservation Fund ($900 million) and National Fish Habitat Partnership ($7 million) represent a substantial component of conservation delivery across the nation and their impact is multiplied many times over through matching requirements that leverage non-profit fundraising and private sector investment in conservation.  At CSF, our role is to advocate for these programs through education and use our presence in the halls of government to highlight the tremendous work that CSF’s partners do on behalf of fish, wildlife and America’s sportsmen and women.
 

The American System of Conservation Funding

CSF works to protect the sportsmen’s community’s substantial investments in conservation by ensuring that funds from the “user pays -- public benefits” program known as the American System of Conservation Funding are used exclusively for their intended purposes.  These funds, supported by excise taxes on outdoor sporting equipment and fees associated with hunting and fishing licenses, are used to fund a wide variety of activities including: habitat conservation, scientific research, fish and wildlife management, hunter and boater education, recreational shooting infrastructure, and more.  We also protect the integrity of the sporting community’s conservation investments as an advocate for state fish and wildlife agencies’ authority to manage species through decision making processes informed by science.  In a world where opposing interests are continually attempting to undermine the relevance of hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, trapping and state wildlife management, CSF is on the front lines advancing our collective conservation legacy through education, advocacy and partnerships.