PHOENIX — It has been more than a half-century since the U.S. Congress and President Nixon first established National Hunting and Fishing Day in 1972, recognizing generations of hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and other outdoor enthusiasts who collectively represent the backbone of wildlife conservation.
The special-interest holiday — which, this year, falls on Saturday, Sept. 26 — also underscores Arizona’s hunting and angling communities as an important economic driver.
In 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced more than $1.3 billion in annual funding through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (WSFR) program, which supports state and local outdoor recreational opportunities and wildlife and habitat conservation efforts. The system is a “user pays-public benefits” approach that is recognized as the most successful model of fish and wildlife management in the world, and it helps to support conservation efforts of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
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It’s important to understand just how outdoor pursuits benefit wildlife conservation. WSFR funds come from excise taxes collected on the sale of hunting and fishing equipment (including 11 percent on ammunition). These funds come right back to Arizona for habitat improvements, research, surveys, hunter education, construction and maintenance of shooting ranges, boating access facilities, and more.
Every Arizonan benefits: the general public gets better stewardship of natural resources and the state’s more than 700,000 hunters and anglers get more and better places to hunt and fish. State and federal agencies receive more funds to meet their conservation needs.
