A recent report by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) found that the country's 34 million hunters and anglers are among the largest contributors to the U.S. Economy. If America's sportsmen and women were a company, they would rank in the top 20 of The Fortune 500. The report noted that with estimated annual spending in excess of $76 billion, America's hunters and anglers spend more each year than the revenues of high-tech giants Microsoft, Google, eBay, and Yahoo combined! Also noted in the report was the fact that these sportsmen and women directly support 1.6 million jobs¾twice as many jobs as the combined civilian payrolls of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.
"While hunting and fishing are generally thought of as just outdoor traditions, they actually comprise an outdoor nation¾both in terms of economic impact, and in turning out the vote on Election Day," said CSF President Jeff Crane. "If the $76 billion sportsmen spend on hunting and fishing was the Gross Domestic Product of a country, sportsmen as a nation would rank 57th out of 181 countries."
U.S. Representative Ron Kind (D-WI), an avid sportsman and co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus said, "This report clearly demonstrates the tremendous impact that sportsmen and women have on their communities, the economy, the environment, and even on politics. Their presence is too great to be ignored by policymakers in Washington, D.C., and I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to look at this report and make sportsmen's issues a priority."