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February 7, 2022

NSSF Announces Release of Fourth ‘Partner with a Payer®’ Video


Highlighting Longstanding Conservation Partnerships with Industries, State Agencies and USFWS

NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF®, The Trade Association for the Firearm Industry, has added Video 4, Power of Partnership, to its Partner with a Payer® website. This latest release features representatives from several state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, the firearm industry and the archery industry.

The video was filmed during the Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) annual conference in September 2021. Content addressed in the Power of Partnership focuses on the resulting benefits produced by this irreplaceable industry-paid and agency-implemented excise tax funding sourced by firearm, ammunition and archery manufacturers on their products. Outstanding accomplishments have been achieved by the partnership of these workforces. Their passion, their enthusiasm is overwhelmingly evident – and infectious in a very good way! The workers on both sides of this story are gaining a new appreciation and enlightened understanding of what their partners in this wildlife and conservation effort do to make it work.

NSSF participates in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Partner with a Payer initiative to help strengthen ties between all excise tax-paying manufacturers—firearms and ammunition, archery equipment, marine and sportfishing equipment—and the state agencies that use these funds to conserve wildlife and habitats through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program of USFWS. Tom Decker, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, would like every manufacturer to know that the funds they pay into excise taxes have literally changed the nature of America. Hear his full message in the video.

Since 1937 when the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act was enacted (today better known as the Pittman-Robertson Act), the manufacturers of firearms, ammunition and archery equipment have been part of a network consisting of sportsmen and women, state fish and wildlife agencies and USFWS to collect and distribute excise taxes—more than $14.7 billion to date —on their products for the benefit of wildlife conservation and restoration, hunter education and shooting ranges. Sarah Parker Pauley, Director, Missouri Department of Conservation describes new opportunities for hunters and anglers that wouldn’t be possible without these critically important funds. Missouri had its first elk season in modern times introduced last year and their first black bear season this year.

NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi said, “It is an incredible model of conservation funding that benefits all Americans, not just hunters and target shooters, and helps ensure sustainable wildlife and habitat for future generations. Our industry’s contributions to this program are something we’ve long been proud of, and we want the employees of companies and state agencies to be also, which is why we’re proud to be involved with the Partner with a Payer program.”

The Partner with a Payer initiative was developed to help generations of workers in the industry, state agencies and USFWS better understand this public-private partnership, the roles industry, wildlife agencies and recreational shooters play in it and the benefits everyone shares in.

Partner with a Payer also arranges for industry employees to see conservation science taking place in the field, such as at black bear research projects. “These connections between industry professionals and state agency scientists and researchers build long-lasting appreciation for each other’s work and also the funding that makes so much of what we enjoy possible,” said Bartozzi.

There are more videos highlighting additional aspects of this unique public-private partnership that will be added to the site. The videos were produced by Shine United LLC / Kingdom Filmworks for the National Shooting Sports Foundation through a Multistate Conservation Grant awarded by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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About NSSF
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org. 

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Media contact:
Bill Brassard
203-426-1320 ext. 212

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Tags: conservation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS Wildlife Wildlife Restoration Act

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