The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking to recruit pheasant hunters to promote preservation.
Last month, NYSDEC released a strategic plan for pheasant stocking over the next decade. The plan would shift state efforts away from trying to restore wild pheasant habitat and toward recruiting hunters.
Jackie Lendrum, director of NYSDEC's Division of Fish and Wildlife, explained that NYSDEC is hoping hunting will develop a "conservation ethic" in New Yorkers.
“Once folks are outside and they're experiencing the great outdoors that we have here in New York State — the wildlife, the habitats, you know, these great state lands — that then they, they value that, right? If, if they're out there, they're experiencing it, they value it, they'll work to protect it," said Lendrum.
Lendrum said many people getting into hunting are interested in connecting with where their food comes from.
“One of the growing populations of new hunters that we're seeing are actually women in their mid-to-early 30s," Lendrum said, "and what you're seeing is that people really want to be involved and know where their food is coming from, right? And so, there is nothing more natural or more organic than meat that you harvest yourself."
Since the early 20th century, pheasants have been a favorite of small-game hunters in New York, and hunting them makes for an accessible way to get into the sport.
However, New York's wild pheasant populations are at an all-time low. As NYSDEC biologist and Small Game Unit Leader Joshua Stiller explained, this is largely due to habitat loss.
“You know, we had a lot of areas of New York that...the landscape has just changed significantly," Stiller said. "We've lost grasslands. We've lost the habitat that would otherwise support pheasants in New York State.”
As pheasant hunting remains popular, the state raises and releases over 30,000 pheasants annually on lands open to the public for hunting. The new pheasant stocking plan would increase the number of stocking locations near major population centers and promote awareness of public pheasant hunting opportunities.
NYSDEC is accepting comments on the plan through Saturday.