The writing is on the wall, and it's not pretty.
Unless Minnesota reverses well-established declines in hunting and fishing participation among young people, license sales will crash and endanger the state's priceless outdoors identity.
The worst-case scenario _ at the forefront of the statewide Angler and Hunter Recruitment and Retention Summit _ is that fishing and hunting fade so badly that those two historic institutions lose sway with policymakers.
The consequence feared by outdoors leaders nationwide is a society with less awareness of the natural world, less fish and wildlife research and less protection for forests, prairies, rivers, lakes, wetlands and all other game and nongame habitat.
"Staying connected to the outdoors is important for the future stewardship of our natural resources," said Jeff Ledermann, supervisor of recruitment, retention and outdoors education for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
"We have to reach out to young people and broader groups," said Craig Engwall, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and a member of the DNR-led task force that organized this weekend's summit. "Our level of interest in conservation will drop if we keep doing what we are doing."
The free summit at Earle Brown Heritage Center in Minneapolis is designed for current and potential providers of angler and hunter recruitment programs. Outdoor industries, conservation groups, wildlife biologists, fishing and hunting organizations, clubs, 4-H leaders, high school shooting sports organizers, some legislators and an array of public agencies will be there.
The most anticipated general session is a talk Saturday morning by Matt Dunfee of Wildlife Management Institute, a 100-year-old nonprofit, scientific and educational group that has spent nearly a decade on so-called R3 research: recruitment, retention and reactivation.
