No One is an Island: Quantifying the R3 "Ripple Effect"

Since the inception of R3, many programs have focused on activities designed to increase hunting, target shooting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation behaviors across diverse population demographics. Typically, the benefits of these behaviors have been researched, documented, and evaluated using metrics of license sale and excise tax revenue generated directly by the individuals who engage in an R3 effort. Surprisingly, very little exploration has been made into the secondary or indirect benefits of creating a new hunter, angler, or recreational shooter. Despite this lack of formal inquiry, R3 experts have long hypothesized that the effects of R3 efforts might reach well beyond individual program participants; effects like additional recruitment of friends and family by the new hunter, angler, or target shooter or an increase in public awareness and acceptance of the social and conservation benefits of hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. These “ripple effects” likely extend the value and broader benefits of a particular R3 effort and hold the potential to amplify its known return on investment by potentially creating more advocates for – and participants in – hunting, fishing, and shooting sports. To better document these “ripple effects” and understand which mix of R3 efforts might generate the greatest benefits possible, this project will identify and quantify the secondary effects of select hunting and shooting sports R3 efforts and their impact on different audiences. The project research team will first gather input from R3 professionals regarding how they interpret the ripple effect and their perspectives on how it occurs. Recent adult-onset hunters will also be queried about their interactions with non-hunters during their introduction and socialization process into hunting, fishing, or recreational shooting. Using the results of these inquiries and with state fish and wildlife agency R3 professions, the research team will construct and deliver a national survey targeting specific subsets of new hunters or target shooters to quantify their interactions with and impacts on others in their proximal social networks. The results will be shared within professional R3 communities nationwide, and special webinars will be held to educate R3 professionals on estimating the best ripple effects associated with their R3 efforts.