Conservation

Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s: Helping people reconnect with nature, empowering conservation together

The pandemic, an event with no modern precedent, reset the priorities of many people. For quite a few among us time spent at home and with family was reminder of what is important. For many Americans the pandemic resulted in a reconnection with nature.

According to the National Wildlife Federation:

• 40% of Americans are spending more time outdoors than they did before the pandemic.
• Two thirds of Americans are spending time outdoors closer to home.
• Women are twice as likely as men to be spending more time outdoors now than in 2019.

Were that not enough:

• 60% of Americans also claim to have a better appreciation for the outdoors than they did before.
• Some 91% of Americans believe that is important to save at risk plants and wildlife.

Bass Pro Shops has been blessed to be in the business of helping families fish together for 50 years.

Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s is not only committed to serving all of those who love the outdoors, but to driving conservation. Our commitment is 50-years strong and backed by the combination of the world’s widest selection of outdoor products — more than 200,000 — sold by the most knowledgeable, friendly and passionate Outfitters you’ll find anywhere. We take pride in making it easy for families to get outside and create outdoor memories together.

More than a business plan, it is our belief that making it easy for people to (re)connect with nature is a good thing. In fact, we’ve been committed to this very thing for decades.

The importance of getting outside

Reconnection with nature is perhaps as important now as it has ever been. Just as our natural resources come under increasing strain, many in society are oblivious to issues related to conservation. The average American teenager spends more than 9 hours per day on a screen, not including time spent on school work.

Family time in the woods or on the water is good in a variety of contexts.

Reestablishing society’s connection with nature offers cascading benefits. More people getting outside is a good thing. It is good for people, for families, for children, for parents and grandparents. Time spent outside is good for mental health, for being present and living mindfully.

Horseback riding at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks.

Spending more time outside also lends itself to the creation of more and better fishing stories. The interesting thing about it is that people spending more time outdoors is not just good for people, but nature as well.

Time spent outside creates a connection with wilderness, plants and animals. This connection provides the foundation for understanding and for caring. Caring and understanding, in turn, are a necessary component of conservation. Not only does getting outside provide the spark for caring about conservation, but it also pays much of the tab for conservation work.

In the United States, excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment generate billions of dollars in conservation funding each year. These user-generated funds are a central driver of the North American Model of Conservation, widely recognized as history’s most successful system of laws and policies to conserve and safeguard natural resources.

Since 1937 and passage of the revolutionary Pittman-Robertson Act, excise taxes paid by manufacturers of firearms and ammunition, and later fishing tackle and equipment, have generated more than $71 billion to fund state fish and wildlife agencies’ conservation and management work. Last year sportsmen and women generated an historic $1.5 billion in excise taxes for sportfish and wildlife restoration.

The foundation of conservation

There exists a fundamental connection between people getting outside and people caring about conservation. Proof of this statement lies in the leadership of hunters and anglers in America’s conservation movement. Theodore Roosevelt, a lifelong hunter, created the National Park System and preserved more than 230 million acres in the United States.

Giants of American conservation, President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir
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Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s is proud to stand united with customers whose dedication and commitment proudly carry the mantle of the Sportsman Conservationist today. Over the past 50 years, our collective passion and effort have changed the world. Together we are making a difference for conservation and for the plants and animals that give us all so much.

Thank you for shopping with us. Thank you for getting outside.

A lifetime of memories … one cast a time.