Figuring in hunting, fishing and shooting, the report shows that on a national level there are 34 million sportsmen age 16 and older who spent more than $76 billion in 2006 and supported 1.6 million jobs.

I think it's important, too, to recognize the amount in sportsman's dollars that go into nonhunting wildlife projects that also help the state's economy.

Take, for example, the millions being spent on revegetating rangelands destroyed by drought, old age — as in the case of sagebrush — and bugs.

I don't think there's any question that hunting and fishing are important activities here in Utah and do, in fact, contribute greatly to our quality of life.

---

E-mail: grass@desnews.com