Two key federal excise tax programs will once again benefit conservation programs across the nation as $1.2 billion will be distributed in 2026 to state agencies, according to a Feb. 12 announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The funding is allocated annually by the Service through the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration programs.
The monies are obtained from excise taxes on sales of firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing gear and motorboat fuel and distributed according to formulas that include state size and number of hunting or fishing licenses sold.
The funds are disbursed to partner fish and wildlife agencies through grants by the Service’s Office of Conservation Investment.
In Wisconsin the principal partner is the Department of Natural Resources. In 2026 the DNR will receive $36.97 million, including $23.49 million from the wildlife program and $13.48 million from the fish program, according to the Service.
When compared to the previous year, the 2026 Wisconsin allocations represent an 8.4% reduction in the wildlife program and a 4.8% increase in the fish program.
The Badger State changes are in line with fluctuations in this year’s national pot of funds, which had $842.4 million in the wildlife program (down 7.9% from 2025) and $442.85 million in the fish program (up 6.4%).
The funding is used for wildlife and fish management activities in the state, including wildlife research, habitat improvement projects, fish stocking, public boat launches and hunter education.
“State wildlife agencies are critical partners who are on the front lines of wildlife management and conservation,” said Service director Brian Nesvik in a statement. “They provide expertise and leadership in our shared conservation efforts. Through this partnership, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration funding helps states to improve access to wildlife and wild places through one of the most effective conservation tools in the world.”
The programs are also known as Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson, the names of the federal acts that created the programs for wildlife and fish, respectively.
Since the programs were started, more than $31 billion has been distributed through annual apportionments to monitor and manage our nation’s fish and wildlife resources, support hunter, trapper and aquatic education, and improve access for outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and boating.
The wildlife legislation was passed in 1937, a time when many species including the wild turkey, wood duck, elk and white-tailed deer were extirpated from or greatly reduced in number in large portions of their native ranges.
It was endorsed by hunters and manufacturers of firearms and ammunition as part of a “user pay, user benefit” strategy of conservation. Along the way hundreds of non-game species also benefited, as have all U.S. citizens through access to public properties purchased or improved through the funding.
The fishing industry embraced the same strategy through the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 and the boating industry through the Wallop–Breaux Amendment of 1984.
The wildlife restoration program collects its funds through excise taxes on the sale of shotguns and rifles (11%), ammunition (11%), archery equipment (11%) and handguns (10%). The sport fish restoration program obtains its money through a 10% excise tax on fishing rods, reels and lures as well as a motorboat fuel tax.
The federal government collects the excise taxes from manufacturers and, based on a formula that includes geographical size and number of hunting and fishing licenses sold, distributes the monies to all 50 states and several U.S. territories.
No state receives more than 5% nor less than 0.5% of the total funds available. The grants typically fund up to 75% of project costs, and most grantees must provide a matching share of up to 25%, often from hunting and fishing license revenues.
The changes in the 2026 national distributions mark two consecutive years of reductions in the wildlife program and two consecutive years of increases in the fish program. The wildlife program decline is linked to a drop in firearm sales.
The excise tax programs have helped but not alleviated a growing DNR funding problem. As a result of the Wisconsin Legislature’s failure to raise most resident hunting and fishing license fees since 2005 and rising costs of goods and services, the DNR’s Fish and Wildlife Account is in a structural deficit.
Gov. Tony Evers included a range of resident license fee increases in his proposed 2025-27 state budget but the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee rejected them.
In 2025 the DNR estimated its structural deficit in the account, which pays for fish and wildlife management as well as law enforcement, would be $16 million. A coalition of conservation groups began forming in 2024 to push for increases in fishing and hunting license fees and perhaps other ideas to improve DNR funding.
The Legislature has instead used transfers from the Forestry Account to shore up the Fish and Wildlife Account deficits.
Without the revenue from the federal wildlife and fish excise tax programs in recent decades the DNR’s Fish and Wildlife Account would be in even worse shape.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin to receive $37 million from federal excise tax programs
Reporting by Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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