The Public’s Perceived Importance and View of State Fish and Wildlife Agencies
Strategic Priority
Expanding Relevancy and Engagement - Enhancing Conservation Through Broader Engagement
Project Description
| According to previous iterations of the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, most state residents do not fish, hunt, boat, or participate in other related activities. Despite this fact, fish and wildlife agencies (“states”) are charged with managing natural resources for the benefit of all residents, which often proves difficult. Purpose: This project's primary purpose is to understand the relevance of state fish and wildlife agencies to traditionally under-served audiences, as described above. The benefits include helping states implement efforts that lead to increased public engagement and support regarding conservation. The purpose is not primarily to convert these audiences into anglers, hunters, or boaters but to help states adapt their approaches, programs, messaging, and outreach to better connect with the full range of existing communities and individuals regarding conservation. This project is modeled after a similar effort piloted by the South Carolina DNR with Southwick Associates’ assistance. A second benefit will be creating a process template, including questionnaires, that can be implemented in other states and regions, thus providing a way to compare results and responsive approaches across states. This also results in cost savings for states replicating this effort. Finally, the results will provide a baseline to measure shifts in public awareness and perceptions of state agencies and a means to evaluate efforts to boost relevancy. A third benefit will be the identification of the extent of past fishing, hunting, and boating participation among nontraditional audiences, interest in future participation, and whether these experiences and interests influence their perceptions of state agencies. Southwick Associates will carefully evaluate Work progress and methods using detailed, defined milestones monitored in weekly team meetings. Draft results are also put through an internal review process, with critiques provided by analysts not previously engaged in the project. The distribution process results will be evaluated and included in the final performance report. Besides sharing results directly with each participating state, Southwick Associates will also share the results with relevant AFWA committees, either in person at the March AFWA meeting and/or directly with each committee chair. Committees interested in public outreach and communications will be engaged, especially the Education, Outreach, and Diversity Committee, to assist in effectively communicating results to audiences traditionally not well-engaged in fish and wildlife management or conservation issues. Results and the project report will be announced in NGO newsletters, including SEAFWA, Southwick Associates, and the R3 Clearinghouse, plus webinars to be held on behalf of SEAFWA open to all states. To increase use and longevity, results will be posted to the SEAFWA and Southwick Associates’ websites and offered to the AFWA website. All postings will include links to the summary and technical reports. The technical report will provide all information necessary, including survey questionnaires, for other regional associations to replicate the effort. For this project, the leadership of fish and wildlife agencies will gain key insights into how both traditional and non-traditional stakeholders perceive their agencies. This will allow them to design communication strategies, messaging, and relevant programs for all residents. States’ outreach staff will receive insights on the ideal online, social media, and traditional media plus messaging to reach specific under-served audiences. Finally, there is an opportunity for directors to engage their state legislatures on important conservation issues that may fall outside traditional hunting and fishing activities, thereby building more broad-based support for conservation funding. |
Project Facts
- Organization Name: Southeastern Association of Fish And Wildlife Agencies
- Organization Status: NGO classified as 501(c)(3)
- State: Virginia
- Obligation: $242,440
- Start Date: 01-01-2023
- End Date: 12-31-2023
Results
To effectively manage fish and wildlife resources, state agencies must understand their customers and others who have a voice in the decisions, actions, or future of the natural resource agency. In October 2023, Southwick Associates fielded a survey on behalf of 12 southeastern states to both recreational license holders and non-license holders to learn more about several topics, including:
- How relevant their state fish and wildlife agency is to them,
- How important the various responsibilities handled by their state fish and wildlife agency are,
- Whether they believed the state was doing a good job fulfilling these tasks,
- Funding priorities,
- Interactions with the agency, and more.
A summary report is available as well as a more detailed technical report.
