Do Your Part for Sport Fish Restoration!

By posting the Sport Fish Restoration logo – a shared symbol of cooperative conservation – in your communications materials, you can help educate the public about what boaters and anglers have done to fund conservation in this country.

The Sport Fish Restoration Act, commonly referred to as the Dingell-Johnson Act passed on August 9, 1950, creates a program for management, conservation and restoration of fishery resources. In other words, when you buy a fishing rod, reel, lures, flies and artificial baits, your tax dollars go towards fish research, the re-introduction of declining sport fish species, restoration of aquatic habitats, aquatic education and construction of boat ramps and fishing piers.

"Since establishment of this federal program more than a half century ago, manufacturers of fishing and boating equipment have paid more than $5 billion in excise taxes, which has been used by state wildlife agencies to maintain and restore fish and wildlife resources nationwide," said Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. "By paying these excise taxes, the manufacturers and sportsmen and women continue to provide critical funding for sport fish conservation in North America."

In 2006, the Sport Fish Restoration Program generated:

• $291 million for Sport Fish Restoration
• $14 million for the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program
• $14 million for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant Program
• $12 million for a National Outreach and Communication Program to increase participation in boating and fishing
• $11 million for the Boating Infrastructure Grant Program
• $11 million for the Clean Vessel Act Program
• $3 million for the Multistate Conservation Grant Program

More information is available online.