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APPENDIX VI 367

Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy for MS

By Randy Spencer

Wildlife Coordinator / [email protected]

Mississippians understandably tend to take healthy populations of game species for

granted. Like our fellow sportspersons in all 50 states, we have benefited from the

enormously successful Federal Aid in Sportfish and Wildlife Restoration programs. The

1937 Pittman Robertson (Wildlife Restoration) Act and the corresponding 1950 Dingell-Johnson (Sportfish

Restoration) Act, have ensured the conservation and sustainable use of important wildlife species fished or

hunted by millions of sportspersons across the country by providing stable, dedicated funding sources for their

management. Sportsmen have also supported management by funding state wildlife agencies through hunting

and fishing license revenues. Many nongame species have been positively impacted by traditional game

management programs because they often rely on the same habitats. However, there is a huge gap in federal

funding for the many species not addressed by hunting and fishing fees and excise taxes.

Nationally, many wildlife species are in trouble and over 1,000 species are on the federal Threatened and

Endangered Species list. The number of listed species has doubled in the last ten years, with many more

potential candidates. The lack of focus of federal resources on the conservation of many of these species prior

to their decline is a major contributing factor. Many species will continue to decline in the future unless

resources are provided for proactive efforts.

When species are listed, the federal dollars needed to protect or restore them are much more than would have

been required to prevent their decline in the first place. Annual federal expenditures for the recovery of listed

Wildlife Issues. MDWFP. Spring/Summer 2004.