Realtime License Data Dashboard Improvement and Expansion

To identify priority needs and effectively monitor and evaluate R3 programs, R3 leaders must have timely and reliable data. Likewise, fish and wildlife agency managers need to identify participation trends to make informed program and policy decisions. While states can only receive updated regional and national trends every six months after an additional three-month processing delay, the rest of the country receives aggregated health statistics and other insights weekly or sometimes daily. The same technology used to report daily COVID-19 trends is also available for states to share and compile license sales trends rapidly. In 2021, this proposal's partners began developing and piloting a "real-time" regional and national license dashboard using "application program interface" (API) software technology under an AFWA MSC grant, engaging 2-4 states in the piloting phase. Once pilot testing and recruitment are complete, the long-term goal is to recruit a majority of states and then combine the real-time dashboard with key elements of the ongoing, growing "traditional" license dashboard. The traditional dashboard churn rates, new recruitment rates, and similar items can only be reported after a hands-on analysis of 10 years of license data to identify new, regular, and churned license buyers. A combined dashboard will enable the R3 community to respond more quickly and intelligently than possible once the new real-time dashboard is proven and has enough states to reliably report national and regional trends. Grant support is needed to transition the current experimental real-time dashboard into the growing, functional platform. This will first promote the need and benefits to states, then help them overcome internal resistance and legal hurdles, followed by building their API connection into a highly secure, cloud-based system. Twelve states will be targeted for addition in 2022. Once operational, States and the R3 community will make better-informed, timelier decisions about future strategies and responses to participation trends. The only alternative source of similar data without federal dollars is the USFWS' certified license numbers. Typically released two years after the reported period and with no breakouts by gender, age, churn rates, or recruitment insights, certified license data are minimally informative and not timely. Without this requested grant, the real-time license data dashboard effort will cease, no updates will be provided, and states and the broader R3 community will again face a data void when making critical management decisions.