In 2008, a plan emerged from the white house conference on north american wildlife policy entitled facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation

Among the recommendations in the plan was an action to, create a hunting and shooting heritage foundation similar to the recreational boating and fishing foundation. The council to advance hunting and the shooting sports (council) was officially chartered in 2009 to facilitate the promotion and growth of hunting and the shooting sports and the education of the public on the contributions that hunters and shooters make towards wildlife conservation. The council has grown to become a leader in recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3), and facilitated national advancements to ensure support for and active participation in hunting and the shooting sports for future generations. A multiyear multistate conservation grant (mscg) for 2022 to 2024 provided the long-term support needed for the council to significantly increase its capacity to help meet the increased demand from the community while exceeding the goal metrics identified in each of the 15 objectives of the grant. Demand for and approval of council services remain high in the hunting and shooting sports community. The 2023 stakeholders awareness of and attitudes toward the council to advance hunting and the shooting sports survey from responsive management found that 82% of the 435 responding stakeholders approve of the councils work in the R3 community. Using findings from the stakeholder survey, feedback from planning sessions with the councils 34-member board of directors, and expertise from council staff, the council to advance hunting and the shooting sports 2025 2030 strategic plan was developed. This plan guides and aligns with this five-year mscg proposal to provide sustainable funding for the council. This grant will allow the council to annually provide technical assistance to 15 organizations manage the online R3 community and increase member contributions by 10% manage the national R3 clearinghouse and increase the number of digital assets by 1,000 produce 10 case studies host five webinars participate in 12 regional and or national meetings to help facilitate R3 support 10 R3 practitioner trainings and provide content via a learning management system administer a stakeholder survey engage 15 stakeholders representing nonprofit, agency, and industry in the annual review committee improve council website relevance and increase visitation by 10% increase the councils social media presence and increase followers by 10% produce americans attitudes towards hunting and shooting sports report and support the southeastern association of fish and wildlife agencies regional R3 coordinator position. The council will use an internal dashboard to track these actions and assess the completion percentage of the objectives. This dashboard will be used to provide the board of directors quarterly update. The council will also work with association of fish and wildlife agencies and united states fish and wildlife service to ensure all financial and performance reporting requirements are met on an annual basis. In addition to tracking the objectives defined above, the council will evaluate using the results of the annual stakeholder survey, hunting and fishing license dashboard, and partner shooting sports reports to inform its efforts and update strategies as needed. These activities and their resulting deliverables will provide value to R3 stakeholders and the general public. The result of continued long-term, sustainable funding for the council will be strategic and collaborative R3 efforts at the state, regional, and national levels. In pursuing these activities, the council will ensure the investments made in R3 are effective, enduring, and ensure support for and active participation in hunting and the shooting sports for future generations.