The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account report stating the 2021 economic impact data for the outdoor recreation industry. The outdoor recreation industry generated $862 billion in 2021 which led to the creation of 4.5 million jobs.

The American Sportfishing Association recognized the important value outdoor recreation has across the United States, and said the outdoor recreation industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy is greater than the amount contributed by other notable industries such as oil and gas extraction, mining, agriculture, and computers and electronics. 

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, the outdoor recreation economy contributed just $689 billion compared to $862 in 2021. 

Highlights for the rebound in 2021 are as follows: Boating/fishing was the largest conventional activity for the nation at $27.3 billion in current dollar value and was the largest conventional activity in 27 states and the District of Columbia. The largest contributors were Florida-$4.0 billion, California-$2.3 billion and Texas-$2.0 billion. 

RVing was the second largest conventional activity for the nation at 25.1 billion in current dollar value added and was the largest conventional activity in 13 states. The largest contributors were Indiana-$5.4 billion, Texas-$2.2 billion and California-$2.0 billion.

Hunting/shooting/trapping was the third largest conventional activity for the nation at $10.8 billion in current dollar value added and was the largest conventional activity in two states. The largest contributors were Texas-$1.2 billion, California-$763.8 million and Georgia-$555.2 million.

Snow activities for the nation was $5.2 billion in current dollar value added and was the largest conventional activity in four states. The largest contributors were Colorado-$1.3 billion, Utah-$519.4 million and California-$505.7 million.

The entire report can be found at asafishing.org.

New Law on Toy Guns in NY! 

New York’s new replica (toy) gun law is now in effect. Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that requires imitation weapons to be easily identifiable to prevent them from being used to commit crimes and allow law enforcement to identify a device as fake when assessing threats. The law went into effect on November 13, 2022.

Replica firearms cannot be black, blue, silver or aluminum, and must be colored white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, bright purple, or be made entirely of transparent or translucent materials.

Data released by the Office of the Attorney General, stated there have been at least 63 shootings in New York State because of individuals mistaking imitation weapons for real firearms, eight of which have resulted in fatalities, and hundreds of crimes have been committed in New York City with imitation weapons.