horntagger

Information I thought some of you might enjoy reading.

Development of land by both residential and commercial purposes, absorbed more than 3.2 million acres of prime farmland – an annual loss of 645,000 acres – between 1992 – 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Inventory.

These 10 states lost the most prime farmland on any between 1992 and 1997 in terms of acreage, according to government data.

Texas - 332,800 prime acres lost

Ohio – 212,200 prime acres lost

Georgia – 184,000 prime acres lost

North Carolina – 168,300 prime acres lost

Illinois – 160,900 prime acres lost

Pennsylvania – 134,900 prime acres lost

Indiana – 124,200 prime acres lost

Tennessee – 124,000 prime acres lost

Michigan - 121,400 prime acres lost

Alabama - 113,800 prime acres lost

From Fox News – http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77474,00.html

Losing Touch With the Great Outdoors

Tuesday, February 04, 2003
By Marla Lehner


NEW YORK — Twenty-somethings may be great at blasting aliens out of the virtual sky, but most can't shoot a deer or hook a trout in the real world.

The number of people aged 18 to 24 who participate in hunting or fishing has been on the decline for the last decade, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Experts say the proliferation of video games, a lack of exposure to nature and a misperception of the sports have all contributed to the decline of young people stalking prey.

"There's no doubt that the demographic trend in the U.S. in terms of hunting and fishing is mirroring what is happening as a whole," said Chris Tollefson, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We are becoming far more of an urban society than a suburban society. We are losing touch with the natural world."

Only nine percent of the country's 34 million anglers are between 18 and 24, down from 13 percent a decade ago. And people in the same age bracket account for just 10 percent of the nation's 13 million hunters, down from 14 percent in 1991.

The sports don't gel well with a generation bred on Nintendo, MTV and other sensory-overloaded activities. "Hunting and fishing does require a lot of patience," Tollefson said. "It is a little out of step with the culture these days, there's no instant gratification."

American kids aren't being taught the sports as children, as many of their parents and grandparents were. And without early exposure, experts fear that many people will never experience the joy of reeling in a flapping flounder or skinning a deer.

"A large issue is [many people] do not have any way to learn how to hunt," said Floyd Thompson of the U.S. Forest Service. "The whole process of owning a gun has become almost a crime. People don't know how to shoot a gun or aim it or use it, how to stalk the animal or clean it. It's a learned sport. And fishing is similar."

But others say there is hope yet that college-aged video game addicts will eventually put away their PlayStations.

A recent party for the Urban Anglers shop in New York City was packed with young people all hooked on fly-fishing. The owner of the store, Katherine Hooper, 30, said college-aged students are too poor and too distracted to take up the sport, but most of her customers are in their late 20s and early 30s.

"The 18 to 25 age group is kind of a happy hour crowd. They're not welcomed financially into doing those sports," she said. "The typical fly-fishing rod costs $500. Hunting also is extremely expensive."
But once people get some cash in the bank and settle down, they're more inclined to pursue the sports, she said. "It's an incredible form of release from day-to-day anxieties that all of us contend with. When you're in college, you don't have this workaday world from which you'd like to be released."
David Blinken, 42, a fly-fishing guide off Long Island, N.Y., said one of the main problems with the sport is its reputation.

"The image we're all trying to break is that it's for grandpas who are retired," he said. "It's not."
In fact, several of his clients are now teaching their own parents to fish. Trevor Gibson, a 28-year-old CFO for a brokerage firm in New York City said he became obsessed with the sport 10 years ago when a friend introduced him to it — and has now taught his father to fish.

"We had a great bonding time," he said. "He caught 12 fish his first time out."
Still, the numbers speak for themselves, said Tollefson. To combat the problem, groups like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts encourage kids to explore the natural world.

"We'd certainly like to see the trend reversed," said Tollefson. "We have made a concerted effort to expand hunting and fishing opportunities and to expose kids to it through things like national fishing week."
But even those who are optimistic about the next generation's interest in the great outdoors concede that basic attitudes toward nature create a barrier to the sports.

"Part of the reason fewer people are raised with hunting and fishing is they had different ideas of what was fun to do out in nature," said Hooper. "For example, my mother wanted to go out and walk. The idea of going out and wanting to shoot birds instead of look at birds skipped her."



Host of The Missouri Sportsmen's Radio Show

www.mosportsmen.com

BIGAMENY

Thanks for sharing the info. HORN Very interesting I hate those damn video games. Kids need direction and someone to look upto and enjoy spending time with.

deerhuntr107

Its happening right around me here in Ohio. I live around alot of farm land and its development after development. The problem is the last few years havent been good growing years, so the farmers are making more money off the developments.
There is one farmer in particular. Wont let anyone hunt, doesnt even live in Ohio, has another farmer farm it and takes so much percent. I think he is gonna sell out, again. He had one person hunting his land which was one of my buddies and he made him leave and 3 months later he sold 15 houses on the property and he has about 50 acres left<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>
Not much I can do, he wont let me hunt and I aint got money to buy or lease the property<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>

Alot of the kids at school dont hunt and have a negative opinion on hunting. There is even a few antis around who wont listen to anyone or even debate it with ya.

&quot;A Country Boy Can Survive&quot;
[img]http://www.csa-rebelstore.com/reb.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/IMG&gt;

Edited by - deerhuntr107 on 02/04/2003 14:21:40

kodiakhuntmaster

I think a major problem is so many kids being raised by mom in a single parent enviroment. How mothers do you know who would take the time to teach a child to shoot and hunt? So many of yesterday's generation women were never taught about hunting themselves, and so came to the conclution that hunting and killing and guns were all wrong. Even if a kid has an intrest in the outdoors they can't come by the resources to learn about it.

&quot;Hey ya'll, watch this&quot;

GForce

Yea, I've always said that golf courses are a waste of perfectly good hunting grounds<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

Uh oh, can open, worms all over the place!

Fortunately my children are more interested in the outdoors than indoor activities. I give them a couple of weeks before they start asking me when we can go fishing again; sorta like &quot;are we there yet?&quot;, &quot;are we there yet?&quot;....

It's not the kids fault that they are addicted to video games. As the article said, they weren't exposed to these outdoor activities while young. Mine are, I do it on purpose.

Shoot often - Hunt always

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

GVDocHoliday

Golfing isn't a sport anyway. I'm only a couple years out of highschool, but if you golfed instead of played football...then you were haized. Mostly because they always used the, &quot;my mom won't let me play football&quot; line. Those sissies.

mauser06

wow im surprised PA didnt win...you couldnt imagine how fast them houseing plants are poping up EVERYWHERE...an area that most of the people around here considered &quot;the country&quot;..mainly farms and wood lots...very few houses except a few here and there and the farm buildings and houses...now within the last 5 yrs they put in a decint sized 3 lane high way(2 going out 1 coming in..dont ask me) in and a ton of housing plants..i cant believe how fast the woods turned into housing plants..but yet we loose a bunch of people from western PA yearly...hmmm doesnt make sense to me...and the kids i agree they need to be shown the great outdoors..im glad my dad showed me..i was in diapers and i was fishing! i caught my first fish..a rainbow trout i probally just turned 3...sure my dad had to do most of it but i reeled it in..thats how young i was and i loved it all since then..just sunday i was doing some early season scouting seeing what deer made it through the season and theres a shopping plaza..there were kids in the back of it on bike kicking on the door with all their power just trying to cause problems..i smiled and just thought how nice it is to be problem free and i have the great outdoors...i could been one of them kids..but instead i know what real fun is..and all that land them kids would say is usless i hunt...alot of it does have to do with video games..what kid wants to go outside and get cold wet and dirty and maybe not even fire their gun when they can shoot trophys on a game all day long and not move...id rather be out there anyday..i hate games..thats ok..when us hunting kids now are older the woods will thin out hunter wise...if we have woods left that is...

jethropew

To read about the loss of hunting habitat and hunter numbers, specificly the young, decling is really disheartening. I think it is a shame that more people do not take there kids out to enjoy the natural surroundings. From the words of Earl Pitts, &quot; Wake up America.&quot; What better way is there for familys to spend time together, than to spend it in the serene beauty of the forests or on the shorlines of a stream or lake. I grew up in a single parent home but I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful uncle who took the time and blessed me with a great love and appreciation of the great outdoors. Someday I will have children and I hope they will not be one of the few who still appreciate nature and what it has to offer.

Life's short so hunt often

Arthur P

I used to work as a land surveyor when I was fresh out of college. Had to quit it because I got sick of all the beautiful country that I'd go into and measure up just to watch it get chewed up by bulldozers for housing developments.

The little town I live in was pretty darned countrified when I moved here 10 years ago. We had a Sonic drive-in and an Ace Hardware, and that was IT. Now we've got a super wally world, 2 major shopping centers, a 16 screen movie theater, all kinds of pizza places, a junior college, hospital....

Our club's range was out in the sticks until a few years ago. Now, where we only had one house across the street, we've got 6 and a whole segment of our range is now unusable due to safety concerns.

If I was king, I'd make it a requirement that for each acre of new development a developer wanted to do, he'd do at least one acre of inner city re-development.

Habitat loss is a disaster, not just for animals and nature. Not just for hunters and fishermen either. It's a disaster for everyone, even the little yuppie anti's who buy those houses they're building in all that new development.

Parents that are too d*mned lazy to take their kids hunting and fishing... not much you can do about that other than offer to take their kids along when you take your own kids.