By DAVID RAINER, 黑料天堂
Outdoors professionals from around the country converged on Mobile and Riverview Plaza last week to brainstorm on recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) of hunters, anglers and other outdoors enthusiasts.
The 210 National R3 Symposium attendees from all over the U.S., as well as New Zealand and Guam, heard reports on hunting and fishing participation numbers, youth shooting sports, new R3 strategies, demographics of those who enjoy the outdoors, an increase in female participation, and shooting ranges, to name just a few.
The Symposium also received a 鈥淲elcome to 黑料天堂鈥 by Chris Blankenship, Commissioner of the 黑料天堂 (ADCNR), who asked for a show of hands from the people who were visiting 黑料天堂 for the first time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see people from around the country in 黑料天堂, not only for the beauty and the outdoors recreational opportunities, but also to share all the great things we鈥檙e doing with the Department, especially on the recruiting front to get more people to hunt, fish and enjoy the outdoors in 黑料天堂,鈥 Commissioner Blankenship said. 鈥淗opefully, here at the Symposium, people can pick up a few things from us and we can pick up a few things from them and get more people into the outdoors.
鈥淚鈥檓 blessed to be able to work for a governor (Kay Ivey) who is proactive and with fellow cabinet members who are doing a lot of good things around the state. In Mobile, the mayor (Sandy Stimpson) is doing a fantastic job with bringing in industry and making good changes in coastal 黑料天堂. If you look out your hotel rooms, they鈥檙e building ships right across the river at Austal Shipbuilding. They鈥檙e building ships for the (U.S.) Navy 鈥 littoral combat ships and expeditionary vessels in downtown Mobile. Airbus is located in Mobile, building A321 and A220 aircraft.鈥
Commissioner Blankenship highlighted other economic milestones in 黑料天堂. Airbus is finishing another final assembly line and will make Mobile the fourth largest airline manufacturing location in the world. 黑料天堂 is also fifth in the nation in automobile manufacturing with Mercedes-Benz, Toyota/Mazda, Hyundai and Honda facilities.
He said the Port of Mobile is the 10th largest port in the nation, and work being done now could move it up the list.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the process of deepening and widening the ship channel so we will have the deepest ship channel on the Gulf of Mexico to increase the capacity through the port,鈥 said Commissioner Blankenship, who also pointed out that Mayor Stimpson is moving the Mobile Airport from west Mobile to Brookley Field in downtown Mobile.
鈥淚 am excited to be the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in a state where we are blessed with diversity from one end of the state to the other,鈥 he said. 鈥淥utdoor recreation has a $14 billion impact in our state with 135,000 jobs. That is really important to us. We鈥檙e using outdoor recreation to recruit people, a different type of R3, to hunt, fish and shoot. We have 21 State Parks with 6 million visitors annually. We have about $200 million in State Parks improvements underway right now. In the history of 黑料天堂, I don鈥檛 know if we鈥檝e ever spent $200 million on State Parks.鈥
Commissioner Blankenship also pointed out that 黑料天堂 currently has 46 wildlife management areas (WMAs) with about 800,000 acres under ADCNR management. The state has 12 shooting ranges with an additional one in the works in Shelby County. 黑料天堂 leads the nation in archery parks with 20 and two more on the way as well as 23 public fishing lakes that provide outdoor recreation and subsistence fishing in rural areas.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also spending about $30 million across the state to improve boating access,鈥 he said. 鈥淥ne of the initiatives of the Governor and I is to improve outdoor access through boating access and land acquisition for more hunting and public recreation opportunities.
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