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NIMROD SOCIETY
Genesis 10:8-12
Perpetuating
the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Wildlife Management Through Education
When the pilgrims first settled in Plymouth in 1620,
hunting and fishing were a necessities of life. America is now an industrialized nation and its population has grown both
ethnically and in numbers, and no longer is basic sustenance the goal of hunting and fishing.
A majority of U.S. citizens
today have very little knowledge about the role 47 million hunters and fishermen play in our society as it pertains to wildlife
management and conservation, nor the positive economic impact that these individuals have on the U.S. economy.
Unfortunately,
attitudes have been inaccurately shaped in recent years by emotional rhetoric and misguidance from well-funded organizations
that spend money on advancing their views instead of contributing to sound wildlife science and management.
The Nimrod
Society was created in order to facilitate programs to educate the general public on the positive role anglers and hunters
play in society through accurate and factual education and media programs.
Current education programs run by state
wildlife agencies are narrowly focused on hunter education and wildlife education in schools. These agencies do not have the
money or resources to more properly educate the general public about the broader positive issues involving wildlife sports.
The
Nimrod Society’s goal is to expand a public education program to all states nationally, based upon the Public Education Advisory
Council (PEAC) model developed in Colorado in 1998.
The “Colorado Model”
· Originally began as the Colorado
Wildlife Conservation Coalition in the mid-1990s.
· Involves sportsmen, wildlife groups, and agriculture and ranching
interests in the state.
· Developed as a pro-active voice for state wildlife issues.
· PEAC was created by the
Colorado legislature in 1998.
· Legislation was passed to allow PEAC to seek and secure voluntary contributions from
hunters and anglers
through a donation “check off” option via the Colorado limited license application process.
·
PEAC has generated more than $250,000 in voluntary contributions.
· Permanent public education financing via a small
license surcharge is PEAC’s goal.
· Research revealed that a majority of sportsmen would support a surcharge.
·
In 2005, PEAC, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Wildlife, plans to seek legislation adding a
$.75 surcharge
on all hunting and fishing license sales, which would generate approximately $1 million annually
for direct financing of
public education programs.
The Role of the Nimrod Society:
The Nimrod Society wants to see other states
adopt a model similar to the one developed in Colorado in order to properly educate the public via a self-funding and ongoing
educational and public relations campaigns.
The organization will accomplish this by:
· Acting as a marketing
organization to gain support among anglers, hunters, sportsmen’s conservation organizations,
state and federal wildlife
and conservation agencies and legislatures.
· Working to help states create coalitions to develop and fund ongoing
public education and public
relations programs.
· Interacting with state wildlife and conservation agencies to
gain the support toward the
implementation of license surcharges and public education and public relations campaigns via
the mass media.
· Facilitating state legislative action to formulate bills that can be passed to allow the funding
of public education and public relations programs for wildlife management and conservation.
What’s in a Name? Understanding
of the word “Nimrod” can be as diverse as the understanding of wildlife management.
Nimrod, often thought of as a
derogatory slur, actually is the biblical name of the founder and King of the city of Babylon, among several other cities.
It has been a word used to refer to hunters due to its biblical reference (Genesis: 10: 8-12) that refers to Nimrod as “a
mighty hunter before the Lord.”
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