When we start tossing around big numbers, it's tough to put them into a perspective that translates to a relevant number to individuals. When you're bringing home $25,000 a year, a million dollars sounds almost too-large to imagine. So imagining a billion dollars (that's a thousand
millions of dollars) is pretty much out of the realm of relevance.
Last week, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was going to distribute $1.1 billion dollars (that's $1,100,000,000) in revenues generated by the hunting and angling industries to state and territorial wildlife services across the nation. That probably elicited a resounding shrug from most of us. So, we wanted to put a little bit of perspective on that number. The best way to do that is to breakdown the massive number into smaller, more easily understood numbers.
So…..here are the way funds are being distributed by state by the
voluntary taxes paid on hunting and fishing gear by outdoorsmen. Sorry animal rightists, but you didn't didn't raise this money.
STATE/TERRITORY
| ALABAMA | $25,562,321 |
| ALASKA | $51,951,630 |
| AMERICAN SAMOA | $2,502,516 |
| ARIZONA | $27,219,443 |
| ARKANSAS | $19,403,525 |
| CALIFORNIA | $44,134,573 |
| COLORADO | $28,516,034 |
| CONNECTICUT | $9,242,606 |
| DELAWARE | $8,232,316 |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | $1,155,056 |
| FLORIDA | $25,607,039 |
| GEORGIA | $25,236,594 |
| GUAM | $2,502,516 |
| HAWAII | $8,232,316 |
| IDAHO | $21,670,126 |
| ILLINOIS | $23,783,360 |
| INDIANA | $18,386,530 |
| IOWA | $16,502,569 |
| KANSAS | $19,984,814 |
| KENTUCKY | $19,623,501 |
| LOUISIANA | $22,570,941 |
| MAINE | $11,872,265 |
| MARYLAND | $11,140,015 |
| MASSACHUSETTS | $11,131,347 |
| MICHIGAN | $37,569,842 |
| MINNESOTA | $37,850,616 |
| MISSISSIPPI | $15,109,447 |
| MISSOURI | $29,783,609 |
| MONTANA | $29,781,997 |
| N. MARIANA ISLANDS | $2,502,516 |
| NEBRASKA | $17,608,725 |
| NEVADA | $19,340,531 |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | $8,232,316 |
| NEW JERSEY | $11,131,347 |
| NEW MEXICO | $22,125,164 |
| NEW YORK | $28,927,341 |
| NORTH CAROLINA | $31,320,942 |
| NORTH DAKOTA | $16,004,762 |
| OHIO | $24,084,830 |
| OKLAHOMA | $25,729,133 |
| OREGON | $26,047,277 |
| PENNSYLVANIA | $37,974,470 |
| PUERTO RICO | $7,024,381 |
| RHODE ISLAND | $8,232,316 |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | $15,674,905 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | $19,016,379 |
| TENNESSEE | $31,366,355 |
| TEXAS | $54,850,661 |
| UTAH | $20,944,045 |
| VERMONT | $8,232,316 |
| VIRGIN ISLANDS | $2,502,516 |
| VIRGINIA | $19,431,901 |
| WASHINGTON | $22,215,325 |
| WEST VIRGINIA | $12,088,070 |
| WISCONSIN | $36,479,149 |
| WYOMING | $19,662,264 |
