Filling the Hole in the ORAM: A Fix for Practitioners

Reliable research supporting the evaluation of Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) efforts have progressed significantly in recent decades with theories, methodologies, and tools being developed and increasingly adopted by R3 practitioners. Central to the structuring and organizing of these numerous evaluation techniques is the Outdoor Recreation Adoption Model (ORAM), a foundational theoretical framework that has been instrumental in promoting consistent standards of R3 efficacy within the field. While its contributions are significant, the framework is not without limitations. Decades of research grounded in Self-Identity Theory reveal that the decision to persist in an activity is strongly influenced by the individual’s perception of their group membership and by the individual’s self-perception. Recent research (Chase & Dunfee, The Hole in the ORAM: Going Back to the ABC’s of Hunting and Fishing, Multistate Conservation Grant project, 2025) has worked to strengthen the ORAM by focusing on the “decision to continue” point within the model and its direct linkage to individual identity formation. This paradigm-shifting study integrated, for the first time, practical methodology that incorporates identity formation factors into the application of the ORAM in R3 effort delivery and evaluation at three levels: 1. The individual level, by matching people to suitable events by assessing aspects of their identity and then making tailored recommendations based on their needs, 2. The event level, by learning which R3 events attract different types of outdoor recreationists, and determining the efficacy of R3 events at forming identity by directly measuring how much each event “moved the needle,” 3. The program level, by designing creating a strategic orientation matrix, so SFWAs can identify beneficial ‘next steps’ or create custom progressions of increasingly advanced R3 experiences Chase and Dunfee (2025) worked to further expand the application of identify formation in R3 effort design and implementation by finding that hunters can be categorizing into eight typologies, based their identification in three identity factors: aptitude, behavior and community. Of even more relevance to R3 practitioners, this study proved that the nuances of hunter identity formation could be determined via a simple 10-question battery that could be incorporated into existing R3 effort evaluation systems. While an admirable start, these innovations were developed in a pilot effort (due to grant funding limitations) and need additional validity and reliability testing in real-world conditions to optimize their functionality for R3 practitioners in state fish and wildlife agencies (SFWAs) and other R3-vested organizations. This proposed research will build on the previous research by extending the study to other selected SFWAs and their R3 partners. Six to eight interested states, throughout a cross-section of AFWA regions, will be recruited to participate in this study to evaluate the degree to which their R3 efforts contribute to identity development. This will be done with each partnering organization by identifying the types of efforts that attract different categories of hunters, the typologies of hunters currently served by the organization, and the creation of sequences of interventions tailored to individual hunting typologies. Unlike the pilot study, which relied on expert opinion to generate the strategic orientation matrix to classify events as to their effectiveness at increasing aptitude, behavior, and community, this research effort will provide a far more robust quantitative assessment of each R3 event that each participating state assesses in pre- and post-event surveys. Upon completion, this project will provide a series of identity-formation assessment tools, accompanied by analysis protocols, that can be seamlessly integrated into existing surveys, event registration systems, and evaluation instruments used to measure the effectiveness of R3 initiatives. By integrating identity-based measures into R3 practice, participating SFWAs and their partners stand to achieve three primary benefits through their engagement in this applied research project: (1) more targeted, efficient, and strategically aligned R3 program design; (2) a more robust, yet simple, means of measuring the impact of R3 efforts through increased identify formation of participants; and (3) improved behavioral outcomes of program participants who will be more likely to make the pivotal “decision to continue” and develop into independent outdoor recreationists (either hunters or recreational shooters). Naturally, these benefits will also be available to all other SFWA’s and their R3 partners who choose to incorporate the R3 effort design and evaluation tools created and refined by this project. Given the long-stablished need for more targeted, efficient, and outcome-oriented R3 efforts, the results of this project will have significant and long-standing benefit to all R3-vested organizations and agencies.