Department of The Interior Boosts Indiana Conservation Projects

(Image courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.)

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The state of Indiana has received nearly $18.2 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The funding comes from sources including excise tax from guns and ammunition, bows, fishing tackle and small engine fuel. States received a combined $1.1 billion this year through funds from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration acts.

Since the funding mechanisms were introduced, more than $20.2 billion has been distributed throughout the country. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke says "for nearly eighty years, states have been able to fund important conservation initiatives thanks to the more than $20 billion that has generated nationwide. Every time a firearm, fishing pole, hook, bullet, motor boat or boat fuel is sold, part of that cost goes to fund conservation. The best way to increase funding for conservation and sportsmen access is to increase the number of hunters and anglers in our woods and waters. The American conservation model has been replicated all over the world because it works."

In 2017, Indiana was awarded over $17.6 million. The department says the funds are distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and support conservation and outdoor recreation projects in each state or U.S. territory.