There is a big reason to hunt, fish

It may come as a surprise, to some, but most Americans support hunting and fishing.

A nationwide survey, conducted by Responsive Management, found "3 out of 4 approve of legal hunting and 9 out of 10 approve of recreational fishing." Opinions over the past decade haven't changed much.

People, hunters and nonhunters, anglers and nonanglers, realize, at least to some degree, the purpose for hunting and fishing.

The survey found:

• 45.4 percent strongly approve of legal hunting and 32.2 percent moderately approve for 77.6 percent approval; 4.9 percent neither approve nor disapprove; 8 percent strongly disapprove; and 8.3 percent moderately disapprove.

• 68.5 percent strongly approve of recreational fishing and 24.8 percent moderately approve; 1.5 percent neither approve nor disapprove; 2 percent strongly disapprove; and 3.2 percent moderately disapprove.

The results suggest that people understand the roles hunting and fishing play in proper wildlife management. More importantly, they are becoming aware of the money that goes into conservation and educational work, all paid for by hunters and fishermen.

Take the Farmington Bay project a couple of weeks back for example.

There are roughly 200 nesting safe-havens for ducks and geese on Farmington Bay — bought, paid for and installed by hunters.

True, it's not a big expense in this case, maybe $1,000 when you consider the cost of the nests, gas for the airboats and vehicles to get to the refuge, and lunch for the nearly 100 volunteers. Time spent on the marsh, which was the better part of a day, was free. But, it was all done to benefit ducks and geese.

And there are other examples. Austin and Joan Larsen, through the Water for Wildlife program, raised more than $200,000 in seed money to build guzzlers or drinking stations in some of Utah's most arid regions for wildlife.

The Foundation for North American Wild Sheep raised $237,000 last year to improve living conditions for bighorn sheep.

Utah's fishing groups spend thousands each year improving water quality and habitat for fish, and that doesn't account for the thousands of hours of volunteer work on Utah's public waters.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded nearly $197,000 in grant funding for habitat stewardship and wildlife management projects throughout Utah in 2006.