A widely held assumption among hunters and anglers is that their experiences in the field and on the water make them better stewards of the environment than most other people.
The reasoning is that because sportsmen and women value fish and wildlife, and the pursuit thereof, they will expend extra effort -- financially, politically and otherwise -- to preserve the types of habitats those species (and wild creatures in general) need to thrive.
Steve Hirsch, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources assistant fisheries division director, reiterated that assumption last weekend at the DNR's annual fishing roundtable in St. Cloud.
Hirsch said that while it's not uniformly true, it nevertheless is occasionally, and perhaps even frequently, true.
What is known is that for the better part of 70 years, hunters and anglers have approved taxes and other special charges on their licenses and on the equipment they buy. Money raised is used to support most of the nation's conservation programs.
So in that regard, people who hunt and fish do qualify as unique in their conservation efforts.
Still, the question persists: Do outdoor enthusiasts differ in their beliefs about the environment compared with the public at large?
That was one question the Star Tribune Minnesota Poll attempted to answer last fall in a survey of Minnesotans' conservation attitudes.
Many of the findings were published in the Star Tribune (Dec. 16-19) as part of the four-part series "The State We're In," reprints of which are available (see accompanying story).
Additional findings, published here, suggest that the attitudes of those who say they are hunters or anglers really aren't any different from the general public.
Developing the poll
The poll, in which 1,014 Minnesota adults participated between Oct. 4 and Oct. 14, 2001, was generally intended to determine:
• Whether Minnesotans believe they are closer to nature and better at protecting their natural resources than people of other states.
• Whether any of several groups of Minnesotans, including hunters and anglers, are "greener" than others.
• Whether Minnesotans' commitment to environmental protection is greater than or less than their commitment to other public needs: public education, tax rebates, economic growth, traffic-congestion relief.
As the C12 graphic illustrates, responses were not significantly different in any group.
The graphic also summarizes respondents' answers to four additional questions (in each, respondents were asked to choose one of two statements that more closely reflected their opinions).
Choices posed by the four questions were:
outdoors
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