I'm in a "Harsh Truth" kind of mood this morning. Something that usually gets me referred to as a name I won't write but nonetheless...here we go!
Why should you donate to 4Progeny? In my mind it's as simple as you'd be a fool not to but in reality, it may help to show the numbers and spell out the truth.
By this point you may or may not know what 4Progeny's actual mission is but for those that don't, here it is. We are an organization dedicated to crowd source funding the purchase of private land to be held and managed by our nonprofit and used for public hunting and fishing access as well as wildlife conservation. Our goals is to expand the number of acres per hunter across the US as well as safeguard and preserve the American Outdoorsmen's way of life. Now...to the meat and potatoes.
The majority of outdoorsmen in this great country would all agree that less government is better. Sure a governing body has it places in order to establish rules and keep us all on the same page but the bigger the government gets, the stranger life seems to become.
Currently your public land access in America is funded by you, the American Outdoorsmen, through means of the Pittman-Robertson Act, Dingell-Johnson Act, License Sales, and Donations to certain entities that you may or may not even know you have made. I've learned recently that a large majority of American Outdoorsmen do not understand this and that gives me hope when it comes to people shying away from donating $3.oo a month to 4Progeny.
Starting with P-R, each and every time your purchase a gun, ammo, or archery equipment, you're being charged an additional 11% tax on that purchase. That additional 11% goes to funding wildlife conservation, public land, hunters education, etc. That fund last year generated around $1.5 Billion. Next up you have the Dingell-Johnson Act. With this act you are taxed 10% on all fishing tackle, 18.5 cents per gallon on boat and small engine fuel, 3% on graphs and trolling motors, and import duties on pleasure boats and yachts. This fund averages $640 Million per year.
Now don't get me wrong, I am for both of these acts and thoroughly enjoy their uses. This has also been one of the greatest pieces to the game of chess the outdoorsmen have ever received because, as the people "funding" these lands and how they are managed, we have held the power. The downside, you ask? Well...a lot of these funds are generated by people who do not participate in hunting or fishing activities and they are starting to find out. You may have heard recently about the Return Bill, (hopefully being shot down). The emphasis on this bill is suggesting to repeal the P-R and D-J acts. They want to remove the "unfair" excise tax and although this will be shot down this go-round, the sharks have smelled blood in the water and they will continue to push to have the taxes repealed.
When the people who purchase guns but don't hunt or the pleasure boaters who don't fish or the regular joe just filling up his lawnmower, all realize that they are paying a good amount of additional money in order to fund public lands, wildlife conservation, and hunter education...Dear Mr. Congressman...and boom, it all goes to hell in a handbasket. Oh, and that's just the funding portion.
In addition to the funding, we have the ever present Anti-Hunting movement, political agendas, government sell offs, and commercial land development.
The Anti-Hunting movement is strong and they are willing to spend countless hours and resources to find their version of the "best available science" in order to halt hunting and fishing for certain species or certain areas. And...they're good at what they do. If you don't believe me, then call a buddy in Washington state and ask him how bear season was this year.
Conspiracy theories get thrown around on a daily basis right now but if you don't believe in political agendas, you're living under a rock. Case in point would be to go check out the Sportman's Alliance articles on the Biden cabinet meeting with the Center for Biological Diversity and their lawsuit and settlement talks to shut down the expansion of hunting and fishing on 2.2 million acres of public land. When the doors closed, guess who wasn't given a seat at the discussion table? Yep, the hunting and fishing community. We were not granted access to have a representative of our community in those closed door meetings. Better yet, the webpage housing the settlement documents and "key terms" was ordered to be removed by the Secretary of Interior.
No such thing as governments selling public hunting and fishing land to private individuals or corporations says you, yes says I. The most recent battle I can think of was fought in Mississippi over the Black Prairie WMA in which a senator proposed selling the 6,000 acres because it wasn't generating tax revenue! Fortunately for outdoorsmen it did not happen but as the old saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire.
To bring this conversation full circle I guess I should insert my point as to why you should donate to 4Progeny. It goes back to an acronym my Granny taught me years ago. KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid. That's us. That's 4Progeny. We're keeping it simple. We're an open book. We take your $3.oo per month and we fund the project the community has voted on to accomplish. You can draw a straight line from your funds directly to the property it purchased. If you can't draw...just ask! At any point in time, any participant in 4Progeny is welcome to ask to see funds. Hell, we'll screenshot the bank account for you if that makes you feel better. This organization is communal. We are not individualistic.
We've showed you the facts above. You're currently paying way more than $3.oo as is and the majority of us can't draw a line to exactly where the money ended up or what exactly is going to happen with the land. While our current public lands are wonderful and enjoyable, we have seen time and time again that there are outliers in the system that do not guarantee access to our future generations. We are currently, always, a vote away from being voted out and that's why 4Progeny is the right choice for those of us who enjoy the guarantees in life.
Don't misread me. I support all forms wildlife conservation, public hunting and fishing as well as private land hunting and fishing but I'm also cautious. I know that the only way to guarantee our land is to hold the deed in our hands. Luckily for us, there are 40 Million licensed outdoorsmen in America and if we decided to join together and pool a miniscule amount of our funds, we can hold the deed to as many hunting and fishing acres as we desire.
Don't be an armchair quarterback. Let go of your $3.oo and come contribute to the team!
Comments