Telephones across Utah will be ringing soon as the 11th National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation gets under way.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking hunters, anglers and other wildlife enthusiasts for their support.
"We appreciate the anglers, hunters, birdwatchers and others throughout the United States who voluntarily participate in this survey," said H. Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Results from this survey help wildlife managers quantify how much Americans value — in both participation and expenditures — our wildlife resources."
People cannot volunteer to take the survey, but the USFWS hopes those who do receive calls will take some time to help.
The survey is conducted every five years. It provides the only comprehensive statistical data available on participation and expenditures for hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching in all of the 50 states. The survey is considered a critical resource for federal and state wildlife agencies, journalists, outdoor and tourist industries, local governments, planners, conservation groups and others with an interest in wildlife and outdoor recreation.
Information for the 2006 survey will be collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, primarily through telephone interviews that were conducted in March and will continue this month and in May, September and October and in January and February 2007.
Those who are contacted will be asked about their participation and expenditures in several categories of wildlife-associated recreation. The results will then be published in a national report and in 50 individual state reports.
Participation is voluntary, and all responses are confidential. Data collected will be used for statistical purposes only, and no participant can be identified from the information contained in the reports.
The process of screening 85,000 households across the country began March 27. Representative samples will be chosen to include 31,500 anglers and hunters and 24,300 wildlife watchers (wildlife photographers, feeders and observers).