Task Force 20/20 Continues Setting Agenda for Five-year Plan
Group to meet this week in Buda, Texas, to capitalize upon gains made at NSSF Summit in June
NEWTOWN, Conn.–The Task Force 20/20 group, comprising industry leaders from the hunting and shooting sports, is continuing to work toward its goal of increasing participation in hunting and the shooting sports by 20 percent over the next five years. The task force is meeting this week at the Cabela’s store in Buda, Texas. This is the group’s first meeting since the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Summit in June in Weston, Fla., where each Task Force subgroup presented ideas to achieve this momentous goal.
Task Force 20/20 began in 2008 during the NSSF Summit whose primary focus was discussing research from a three-year study titled “The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports–Research-based Recruitment and Retention Strategies.” The report condenses the findings of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on factors related to the hunting and shooting sports industry. Funding for the research came from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the form of a multi-state conservation grant. NSSF commissioned Responsive Management to conduct the research for the report.
“This meeting is taking what we learned from the Shooting Sports Summit in June and further breaking it into actionable items,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president. “By working together we can make real and measurable headway toward achieving our goal of increasing participation by 20 percent over the next five years.”
Since 2008 the group has divided out into subgroups to help separate a larger goal into smaller parts. Those parts are Youth Programs, Recruitment, Retention, Access & Opportunity, Aging Demographics and Coordinating Efforts. Each group named a “Champion” or “Co-Champions” to help lead the efforts. This past June each champion led breakout groups to discuss possible models to move forward with the proposed efforts.
“Since the Summit our committees have digested all the information from the stakeholders involved, and we are prioritizing what we can accomplish in the short and long term. We are establishing efforts that will have a lasting impact in hunting and the shooting sports,” said the Youth Group Committee Champion Jeff Rawlinson from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The Task Force consists of leaders from the media, state and federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers, non-profit and non-government agencies and shooting ranges and retailers.
