Office of Conservation Investment

07/23/2026

When you go out on the water, you’re not just making memories—you’re investing in healthy waters and thriving fish populations for everyone to enjoy. Through the Sport Fish Restoration program, federal excise taxes paid by manufacturers and importers of fishing equipment as well as a portion of the fuel tax attributable to motorboats and small engines go to state fish and wildlife agencies to fund their vital conservation work. In our latest Partner with a Payer™ video, learn how those investments are used to study fish populations, protect our waterways, and promote access to fishing and boating opportunities.

When you go out on the water, you’re not just making memories, you’...

07/16/2026

Reminder! Join us this Saturday, July 18 at 1:00 PM, for the next installment of our American System of Conservation Funding Speaker Series at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.

This session, "Saving America's Wildlife: History, Conservation Funding, and the Pittman-Robertson Act," features Mark Madison, Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Discover how the Pittman-Robertson Act transformed America's wildlife and wild places by revolutionizing the way wildlife conservation and restoration are funded.

Session attendees will have the opportunity to see the pen President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to sign the Pittman-Robertson Act as well as other historical artifacts from the USFWS Archives on display during Madison’s session.

Check out U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service History to learn more about the USFWS Museum and Archives.

07/15/2026

ICAST 2026 is underway, and the Office of Conservation Investment is on the show floor.

We're excited to connect with industry and state fish and wildlife agency partners to highlight the benefits of the American System of Conservation Funding. Together, this partnership supports healthy fisheries, clean waters, and access to outdoor opportunities across the country.

If you're attending the event, stop by the Partner with a Payer booth #5914 to connect with our team!

06/10/2026

Join us this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Springfield, MA for the first talk in our America 250 Speaker Series. Steve Sanetti will explore the lasting impact of the National Armory on firearm manufacturing across New England’s historic Gun Valley. Drawing on decades of industry expertise, Sanetti will trace how innovation, craftsmanship, and infrastructure from the Armory shaped a regional hub that became central to American firearm production. In addition to this historical perspective, the session will highlight the modern-day importance of the Pittman-Robertson Act, through which firearm manufacturer federal excise taxes support wildlife conservation and access to outdoor pursuits.

06/02/2026

Vermont’s wild turkey restoration is one of the state’s greatest conservation success stories. After turkeys disappeared for nearly a century, biologists, partners, landowners, and local communities worked together to rebuild the species through strategic translocations, habitat recovery, and science‑based stewardship. This project highlights how effective Pittman-Robertson funding is to restoring lost species back to the landscape. Explore how this once‑vanished bird became a thriving part of Vermont’s landscape in our new StoryMap:

Vermont’s Wild Turkey Comeback Supported by Wildlife Restoration Funding

05/20/2026

History, industry, and conservation come together this summer at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site!

Join us for a FREE speaker series exploring the lasting impact of firearm manufacturing in Gun Valley, the Pittman-Robertson Act, and the American System of Conservation Funding in the United States.

🎤 Part One begins June 13 with “Fi****ms, History, and Conservation: The Lasting Impact of Gun Valley” featuring guest speaker Steve Sanetti. Learn how the Springfield Armory helped shape New England’s historic Gun Valley and how today’s firearm industry supports wildlife conservation and outdoor access through the Pittman-Robertson Act.

📍 The three-part series is hosted at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site
📅 June 13, July 18, and August 15 at 1pm
🎟️ Free and open to the public

Come discover how America’s outdoor heritage has been shaped by innovation, conservation funding, and the industry-state-federal partnerships that continue to restore and conserve wildlife across the nation.

05/20/2026

On the week of May 11th, Partner with a Payer participated in a field tour of the Pharsalia Wildlife Management Area with NY DEC Wildlife Staff. We also were hosted by CZ Fi****ms and Dan Wesson Fi****ms on a factory tour in New York. These events highlighted the wildlife conservation benefits of the American System of Conservation Funding, funds generated from hunter license fees, and a manufacturer federal excise tax on fi****ms, ammunition and archery equipment.

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
CZ-USA
NSSF—The Firearm Industry Trade Association

04/29/2026

This month we attended another successful Partner with a Payer event—just in time of spring turkey season. This Vermont event brought together our staff, NSSF—The Firearm Industry Trade Association, Vermont Fish & Wildlife, The National Wild Turkey Federation, and others to highlight historic turkey restoration efforts. Today, there are over 50,000 wild turkeys in Vermont thanks in large part to landowners and the industry-state-federal partnership created through the Pittman-Roberston Act.

04/16/2026

When a Tennessee stream was found to have suitable habitat but no brook trout, biologists partnered with neighboring North Carolina to restore the population using local trout species. After careful testing, trout were transported and released into their new home, helping rebuild a native fishery through Sport Fish Restoration funding. Brook trout don’t recognize state boundaries… and effective conservation doesn’t either.

Learn more about this effort in our most recent article on our Partner with a Payer™ website:

There’s a quality in the quantity of brook trout populations on the rise, thanks to Sport Fish Restoration.