Internet Program Impacts Youth Interest in HuntingAuthor(s): Jodi A. DiCamillo and Joseph M. SchaeferSource: Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter, 2000), pp. 1077-1085Published by: Allen PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3783868Accessed: 19/05/2010 09:20

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license sales (DiCamillo 1995). IAFWA chose 10- to 12-year-old suburban children as its target audi- ence- for several reasons. Children begin forming their opinions about hunting during the ages of 10 to 12 (Giles 1959, Dyar 1975, Westervelt and Llesvellyn 1985, Duda, et al. l 995). The probability of children engaging in hunting activities is greatest for those living in rural areas, medium for subur- banites, and least for urban residents (Peterle 1961, Applegate 1977, DiCamillo 1995). Responsive Management, a private public-opin-

ion firm, was contracted by IAFWA to conduct a series of focus groups on hunter education and hunting to determine which delivery systems would have the greatest positive impacts on subur- ban 10- to 12-year-old children. The focus groups were conducted in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, and Utah. Because of this research, Duda et al. (1995) concluded that innovative, computer-

Hunting is extremely important to wildlife con- servation in the United States (U.S.). Hunters gen- erate millions of dollars through purchases of hunt- ing licenses and taxes paid on hunting equipment. This money is used by state wildlife agencies for such things as habitat acquisition, restoration, and educational programs. When the U.S. was largely rural, hunting was ingrained in family traditions. There was no need for wildlife managers to pro- mote hunting as a fun, ethical, and rewarding pas- time because it was an accepted form of recreation. Over the past several decades, this has changed. Percentage of people engaging in hunting activities is decreasing (Duda 1993). This trend could result in less license-fee money to support wildlife con- servation activities. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) responded by designing a proj- ect that would increase interest in hunting and

Authorsg address: Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 3261 1-0430, USA, e-mail for Schaefer: jms@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu. Present address for DiCamillo: STEP OUTSIDE, 11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470, USA.

Wildlife Society Bulletin 2000, 28(4):1077-1085 Peer refereed

INTERNET PROGRAMS

Internet program impacts youth interest in hunting

Jodi A. IDiCamillo and Joseph M. Schaefer Abstract Demographic trends in the United States suggest that the general public will become

increasingly isolated from traditional consumptive uses of wildlife. This is correlated with nationwide decreases in hunter initiation and continuation. Because most state wildlife agencies derive a large portion of their funding from hunting-license sales, a decline in this source of revenue could have dramatic implications for future wildlife management pro- gramming. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) developed the Hunting as a Choice (HAC) project to help its member state fish and wildlife agencies effectively address these trends. HAC products target nontraditional constituents (subur- ban 10-1 2-year-old children). As a marketing study, we assessed the effectiveness of HAC to determine whether computer-based educational products (website and computer game) could increase the interest of 10- to 12-year-old suburban children in hunting or hunter education classes. Nearly half of the 91 suburban school children in Jacksonville, Florida, exposed to the website and computer game requested more information about taking a hunter education course from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Participants also became more tolerant of other people who hunt.

Key words children, computer game, hunter education, hunting, Internet, marketing, outreach, web- site, wi Id I ife management

1078 WiZdZifeSocietBuBetin2000,28(4):1077-1085

based educational products would be the most effective delivery method. The RoperYouth Report and other documents further stated that almost two-thirds of 8- to 12-year-olds (18.7 million chil- dren) access the Internet (Roper Youth Report 1997, Find/SVP 1997, Rose 1997). Race Thompson (1994) also suggested that there is a need to coun- teract the numerous Internet messages of hunting as an unethical and ecologically disastrous activity. Based on these findings, IAFWA decided to develop a computer-based delivery system to reach subur- ban 10- to 12-year-olds. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the prototype.

Methods We created a website with information about

wildlife, hunting, and hunter education and an Internet game. The title, rhe Wild Life!, was select- ed because children stated they liked it best (Duda et al. 1995). The website design followed guidelines in Marketing on the Internet (Ellsworth and Ellsworth 1995), Online Marketing Handbook (Janal 1995), and Marketing to and through Kids (Guber and Berry 1993).

The homepage gave children 4 options to choose from. The first gave specific information on how hunters have helped conservation by purchasing hunting licenses and paying taxes on hunting equipment. The second explained the natural food chain and similarities between hunters and the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). The third provided information about hunter education and included links to information on hunter ethics, gun safety, and bowhunting safety. The fourth option accessed an interactive computer game.

A computer software programmer using Visual Basic 3.0 (Microsoft Corporation 1993) developed the computer game. A storyboard was developed that included a child narrator, J. D., and 3 hunters. The images were drawn in cartoon style, which effective- ly reaches children (Wong-Leonard and Peyton 1992). The computer game scenes provided messages on hunter ethics, gun safety, and bowhunting safety. The information in the game was borrowed from the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (1994) hunter education materials. These topics were the least complicated to portray and were the easiest to incorporate into a computer game.

Graphics, such as the Florida panther and the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), were selected because the children could relate

more easily to familiar animals. Bright colors, ani- mation, and an option to request information about hunter education from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were suggested by pre- vious focus groups (Duda et al. 1995).

A PowerPoint 7.0 (Microsoft Corporation 1996) version of the webpage design and a beta version of one scene of the computer game prototype were pilot-tested in a focus group in Jacksonville on 4 September 1996. Focus-group participants were recruited from suburban populations by phone. The group was mixed in terms of race and gender (4 males and 3 females) and all were ages 10 to 12. No effort was made to differentiate participants by race.

The focus group was conducted at a market research facility where the moderator and partici- pants shared a large table. Computers were rented and set up around the perimeter of the room. This allowed children to try the computer game and website prototypes as they would at home. The room was equipped with microphones and one- way mirrors so children could be observed, and the session was videotaped without exerting any influ- ence on participants.

A professional moderator conducted a 2-hour ses- sion focused on participants' reactions to the pro- totypes and some discussion about hunting, hunter education, and wildlife management. Children sat at computers and interacted with the prototypes for several minutes. Afterward, the moderator dis- cussed good and bad points about the prototypes with the children. The children suggested improve- ments. Responsive Management (1996) analyzed the focus-group data using direct observation, review of typed transcripts, and audiotapes.

Because the children responded positively to the prototypes, we continued development and includ- ed reasonable suggestions and ideas from the chil- dren. Because they wanted to learn more interest- ing facts about wildlife, we added facts about turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and bison (Bison bison). The children also wanted to be able to move the game characters around the screen and have several chances to answer game questions correctly.

A website designer converted the PowerPoint 7.0 (Microsoft Corporation 1996) version of the web- site prototype to html computer code so it could reside on the Internet. Links between pages and colorful animation were added. The game was con- verted to a self-extracting file that could be down- loaded to any PC from the website.

Internet programs * DiCamillo and Schaefer 1079

We developed a pre-test to gauge students' opin- ions on hunting and hunter education before view- ing the webpage. The first section of the pre-test focused on the activities in which the students par- ticipated at home and at school. They were asked whether they had a computer at home and if so, what kind, and whether they had access to the Internet. The second section included questions on hunting, hunter education, and wildlife. Finally, stu- dents were asked to provide their names and gen- der. The pre- and post-tests were identical except that a few questions were added to the post-test to obtain student critiques of the website and com- puter game prototypes.

The research protocols of this study were approved by the University of Florida's Institutional Review Board to satisfy United States Department of Health and Human Services (IJSDHHS) regula- tions protecting human research subjects. We pilot- tested the pre- and post-tests on 5 May 1997 with 16 students in the sixth-grade science class at Howard Bishop Middle School in Gainesville, Florida.

To test our prototypes, we used students at Mandarin Middle School in the suburbs of Jacksonville, Florida. The demography of the peo- ple living in this zip-code area CJacksonville Chamber of Commerce 1995) closely matched that of the focus groups reported by Duda et al. (1995). The sixth grade science teacher chose sixth- and seventh-grade students from several classes who volunteered to participate"in an experiment that involved computers." Students were not told that this project had anything to do with wildlife or hunting. They were brought into the experimental classroom at 20-minute intervals. A total of 91 stu- dents participated in this experiment on 21 August 1997.

After students entered the classroom, 10 minutes were devoted to completing the pre-test and pro- viding verbal instructions on using the website and game prototypes (for example, we explained what the links did and how to use the "mouse.") Children were assigned to a computer and allowed to interact with the website and game for 10 min- utes. Afterward, they were allowed another 10 min- utes to complete the post-test. Some children did not have time to view the entire website, play the game, and finish the post-test. We eliminated these data from our analysis.

We estimated the reliability of the surveys by cal- culating the standard error for each question and

averaging them. We analyzed data using SPSS Statistical SoftwareVersion 6.1 (SPSS Inc., 1995). In addition to calculating frequencies and percentage for each question, we performed several cross-tabu- lation, chi-square, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test analyses (T) (Cramer 1994). For all analyses, we used a P-value of 0.05 to determine significance unless otherwise noted.

Results Our pilot study of the pre- and post-tests revealed

interpretation problems with 3 questions. These were reworded and final copies of the tests were prepared.

Ninety-one students participated in the experi- ment conducted at Mandarin Middle School. A total of 77 children (39 males and 38 females) viewed the entire website, played the game, and completed the pre-test and post-test, producing a response rate of 84.6%. The standard error for the pre-test survey was 0.0632 and it was 0.1077 for the post-test.

Almost three-fourths (29) of the males and 66% (25) of the females indicated that they had a com- puter at home. Additionally, 63% (34) of those who had computers also had access to the Internet.

The pre-test indicated that most students liked playing on sports teams, participating in outdoor activities, shopping, playing computer games, watching television, hanging out with friends, going to the movies, and biking. We analyzed data for each activity by gender and found several differ- ences (Table 1). Males enjoyed participating on sports teams more than females (X1 =4.916, P= 0.027) and females enjoyed shopping (%1 = 13.743, P< 0.001) and going to the movies (X2 = 4. 11, P= 0.043) more than males.

Next we analyzed differences between males and females regarding nature-related activities they enjoyed (Table 2). Males enjoyed hunting more than females (X1 = 14.204, P < 0.001) and females enjoyed photographing (X1 =3 75, P=0.053) and feeding wildlife (%2=5.927, P=0.015) more than males.

The remainder of the pre-test data dealt with the children's general opinions regarding wildlife man- agement issues and hunting, and their interest in hunter education. Only 23 of the students had ever been hunting with someone. Of these, 16 were male and 7 were female. The data on the pre-test opinions about legal hunting were distributed in a non-normal fashion (Table 3). Analysis by gender

Table 1. Percentage of male (n = 39) and female (n = 38) stu- dents at Mandarin Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida, who enjoyed various activities, 1997.

Percentage

Activity Males Females p a

Playingon sportsteams 88 66 0.027 Participating in outdoor activities 92 79 ns b Shopping 59 94 < 0.001 Playing computer games 94 92 ns Watching television 93 79 ns Hanging out 93 98 ns Going to movies 90 100 0.043 Biking 69 67 ns

a Indicates greater than expected difference between males and females.

b Not significantly different at P= 0.05.

showed a difference (%5=20.28,P=0.001) of opin- ions between males and females. The opinions of the males were skewed toward agreement with legal hunting, whereas the females' were skewed toward disagreement. More females than males had

. . no opmlon. The post-test revealed a change in opinions from

the pre-test (T=-l.991, 2-tailed P=0.047). Fre- quencies for this question were skewed toward agreement (Table 3.). An analysis by gender showed that most of the change occurred with females (X5= 12.971, P= 0.024). The most notable increase was in the number with neutral opinions and the greatest decrease occurred in the"no opin- ion" category.

Table 2. Percentage of male (n = 39) and female (n = 38) stu- dents at Mandarin Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida, who enjoyed certain types of outdoor activities, 1997.

Percentage

Activity Males Females p a

Camping 61 76 ns b B i rd watch i ng 45 64 ns Hunting 47 8 < 0.001 Photographing wildlife 33 55 0.053 Hiking 59 60 ns Fishing 80 68 ns Feeding wildlife 43 71 0.015 Boating 80 79 ns Noneofthe above 5 8 ns

a Indicates greater than expected difference between males and females.

b Not significantly different at P= 0.05.

Table 3. Pre-and post-test opinions about several statements related to hunting from male (n = 39) and female (n = 38) stu- dents at Mandarin Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida, 1997.

Pre-tests Post-tests

Legal hunting Male Female Male Female

Agree with all 6 0 2 1 Agreewith most 17 6 18 7 Neutral 7 5 12 11 Disagree with most 5 13 4 13 Disagree with all 1 6 2 6 No opinion 3 8 1 0

"It is okay if other people hunt." No opinion 11 11 3 8 Disagree 17 16 4 11 Agree 11 11 32 l9

"Hunters help wildlife." No opinion 6 6 3 6 Disagree 22 28 18 27 Agree 11 4 18 5

1080 Wildlife Society Butletin 2000, 28(4):1077-1085

We also analyzed pre- and post-test differences in opinions for the following statements: 1)"I would like to try hunting"; 2)"it is okay if other people hunt"; 3)"it is okay to hunt if it is done safely and legally"; 4) "hunting causes wildlife to become endangered"; 5) "hunters help wildlife"; 6) "when people hunt and eat what they kill, they are part of the natural food chain"; and 7) "wildlife becomes endangered when habita.t is lost or destroyed."

Statement 2 was the only one that changed between the pre- and post-test (T=-4.1896, 2-tailed P<0.001). Number of students who agreed with this statement increased from 22 to 51, whereas those who disagreed decreased from 33 to 15 and those who had no opinion decreased from 22 to 11 (Table 3). When analyzing by gender, it was appar- ent that the pre-test showed a normal distribution for males and females. The post-test data were (X2 =8.42, P=0.015) skewed toward agreement for males and females, although it was more so for the males.

Although not significant (T=-1.8769, 2-tailed P= 0.061), a change in opinion also was suggested regarding whether the students believed that "hunters help wildlife" (statement 5). Fifteen agreed with the statement in the pre-test and 23 agreed in the post-test (Table 3). Again, the pre-test opinions were distributed normally, but the males were more in agreement than the females. Analysis of the post-test data revealed that the change occurred with the males. The number of those who

Internet programs * DiCamillo and Schaefer 1 081

of the website showed more relationships. A greater proportion of chil- dren who participated in outdoor activities (X4 = 9.22,P=0.056)- such as camping (%4 = 9.47, P = O.OS0), hiking (X4 = 9 70, P= 0.046), and fishing (X4 = 11.04, P = 0.026) than those who did not partici- pate in these activities ranked the website proto- type "good" or"excellent" compared to other web- sites"for children."

Discussion Performing this experi-

ment in a controlled envi- ronment ensured data col- lection and also allowed qualitative assessments of attitudes toward the prod- ucts. The response rate for

Screen shot featuring Scene 111 from Hunting as a Choice interactive software. J. D., the main character, is discussing safety points with his friend, Bow Hunter Dave.

our pre-and post-test sur- vey was greater than for other natural resource sur- veys, which are usually in the 50% to 60% range (e.g., Kellert 1980, McDonough and Nelson 1989, Purdy and Decker 1989). Participant behavior and unsolicited comments indicated that the proto- types were exciting, stimulating, and fun. Participants were much more interested in the game and spent more time on it than they did the website.

Use of the Internet medium Computer use by children from the Mandarin

Middle School study is different from national stud- ies. According to the results of the Mandarin sur- vey, percentage of males that have use of a com- puter at home was about 10 percentage points greater than the national average of 67% (Roper Youth Report 1997). Results from the females almost exactly mirrored the national average. It would be reasonable to expect that the Mandarin data are biased because the experimental group was not selected randomly. Instead, respondents volunteered to participate"in an experiment that involved computers."

Rose (1997) reported that the number of chil- dren in the U.S. who use the Internet more than

had no opinion and disagreed decreased, whereas those who agreed increased (X2=10.14,P=0.006).

Almost half (36) of the children said they would be either somewhat likely or very likely to take a hunter education course and requested more infor- mation about this topic. Of these, a surprising 44% were female (16).

An analysis of whether children who enjoyed outdoor activities were more likely to request infor- mation on hunter education revealed no signifi- cance (X1 = 1.96, P = 0.163). Those who enjoyed playing computers (%1 =4.70, P=0.030), going to the movies (X1 = 3 70, P= 0.054), and biking (X1 = 7.70, P= 0.006) were more likely to request infor- mation.

Next we asked the students to compare The Wild Life! website and computer game with other edu- cational sites they had seen. Forty-four percent said they were "good," and 31% said they were "excel- lent."

A greater proportion of children who enjoyed playing computer games than those who did not ranked our computer game as "good" or"excellent" (%4 = 15.42, P= 0.004). No other comparisons of activities listed inTables 1 and 2 and rankings of the computer game were significant. The same analysis

1082 Wildlife Society Bulletin 2000, 28(4): 1077- 1085

tripled from one million in 1995 to 3.9 million in 1996 and predicted that this number would increase to 6.7 million by the end of 1997. At Mandarin Middle School, 44% of those who have computers used the Internet in 1997. Again, it is greater than the national average of only about 30% using the Internet (RoperYouth Report 1997).

Impacts of the prototypes The prototypes most affected females' opinions

about legal hunting. After being exposed to the prototypes, female students increased their toler- ance toward legal hunting. This is particularly important considering that most of the people who support the animal-rights movement are female (Richards and Krannich 1991). The young females in this study were receptive to information about hunting. It is encouraging that those with no opin- ion originally seemed to change to neutral or sup- portive positions rather than negative. This sug- gests that the information provided to them was acceptable and believable, not offensive or objec- tionable. Overall, the number of"neutral" and "agree with all" opinions almost doubled.

Changes in opinions for males were not quite as strong. Their opinions were skewed toward agree- ment in the pre- and post-tests. Other studies also have shown that most males have positive opinions about hunting (Kellert and Westervelt 1983, Westervelt and Llewellyn 1985, Duda et al.l995).

One disappointing result was that most of the children still agreed with the statement that"hunt- ing causes wildlife to become endangered." This

opinion persisted even though the website explained that there are now laws to control num- ber of animals killed, preventing hunters from elim- inating entire populations like they did in the days of market hunting. The idea that hunters cause endangerment seems to be ingrained in their minds (Duda et al. 1995). Because the children were much more interested in the game than the less- interactive website, including a game scene to address this concept may have a greater impact.

Results of focus groups conducted by Responsive Management (Duda et al. 1995, Responsive Management 1996) showed that children were very interested in the legal and safety issues of hunting. Our website and the computer game did not pro- vide much information on these topics, and there was no significant difference between the pre- and post-test results in student opinions about"hunting being okay if it is done safely and legally." Other studies found similar results (Duda et al.1995, Responsive Management 1996). Most U.S. adult nonhunters believe that many hunters violate laws (Responsive Management 1997).

Most of the children in a previous focus group agreed with the concept of hunting being a part of the natural food chain (Duda et al. 1995). Other national studies found that most children approve of hunting for food (Kellert and Westervelt 1983, Westervelt and Llewellyn 1985). However, this mes- sage in our web prototype had little effect on par- ticipants' opinions. Perhaps these children are so removed from nature that hunting for food is incomprehensible (Duda et al.1995).

It was encouraging that nearly half (47%) of the children participating in the study said that they were either somewhat likely or very likely to con- sider taking a hunter education course and request- ed more information about this topic. In a study of 12- to 17-year-olds in Ohio,15% had hunting expe- rience and 34% wanted to try it (S. E. Miller, 1992 Public Attitudes Survey, Youth and Hunting, Unpublished Report, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife,1993). In a national study of curiosity about hunting, only 15% of 13- to 20-year-olds were very interested in this activity (Responsive Management 1997).

Appeal of the prototypes We asked the children to compare The Wild Life!

website (including the computer game) to other sites. It fared well. It is interesting to note that no wildlife agency or organization sites appeared in

Student at Mandarin, Florida, Middle School tests the Hunting as a Choice website and interactive software.

I nternet programs * D i Cam 01 lo and Schaefer 1 083

Management (1996:21) reported that they"strongly believe that the game (our prototype) evaluated in this focus group has the most potential for altering opinions on hunting that we have ever seen. We also believe that the website and game will result in increased interest in hunter education in the United States." They additionally stated that "wildlife professionals and pro-hunting groups nationwide should take note of the results of this study. The children in the focus group, including anti-hunters, took a serious look at the computer game and took an interest in hunting. This game could play an extremely important role in changing children's attitudes toward hunting and increasing children's interest in hunting if the appropriate resources are committed to the expansion of the Web site and completion of the game" (Responsive Management 1996:23).

Before the products are fully developed and implemented nationally, it would be wise to test them with a larger sample size and in areas with dif- ferent demographics. Further testing should pro- vide IAFWA with data that can be applied to the development of products appropriate for national use.

Other improvements that should be applied to this website include newsletters, event announce- ments, a question-and-answer page, video down- loads, audio, contests, comments to the webmaster, and regular updates (McLaughlin and Morgan 1997). The website also should be listed on several search engines so that children who are searching the World Wide Web for pages containing informa- tion on hunter education, hunting, or wildlife in gen- eral will find this site. Additionally, IAFWA and state wildlife agencies should advertise the site whenev- er and wherever possible. We suggest putting the URL on posters and in brochures, and writing about it in agency newsletters and magazines. The web- site would need to be customized for the different state wildlife agencies so that it will be appropriate for their constituencies. It also would be possible for an agency to link lAFWA's site directly to its own if it does not want to customize it.

The game needs to be expanded to include more scenes, especially ones dealing with safety, endan- gered species, and poaching. Because the children were most interested in the game, we think that information incorporated into the game will be learned more readily. The focus-group participants suggested that adding more sound effects would make it even more appealing.

Students at Mandarin Middle School take the Hunting as a Choice pre-test.

the top 100 sites for children (Top 100 Kids Sites 1997) or the top 100 of all websites (Top 100 Web Sites 1997).

The fact that the prototype developed for this study was so highly rated by children compared to other sites suggests that this site could be competi- tive outside the wildlife-related market. We attrib- ute this success to the fact that we incorporated many of the suggestions of previous researchers (Duda et al. 1995, Janal 1995, McLaughlin and Morgan 1997, Sweetman 1997), as well as those offered by the students in our pilot group.

The computer game ranked extremely high, con- sidering that it is only a short prototype. Our study shows that it appeals to children with a wide range of recreational interests.

The children were very excited about playing a free game. In the focus group conducted at the beginning of this project to pilot-test the game, the children compared the prototype to an existing game, The Oregon Trail. They remarked that it is fun and includes many of the same themes (hunting, shooting wildlife for food) as the prototype. They stated that the prototype was better than The Oregon Trail because the artwork was excellent and the characters were more appealing. This shows that incorporating information on hunting and wildlife management into an animated, interactive, and innovative game is an effective approach to edu- cate children about hunting and hunter education.

Recommendations After studying the literature on children's opin-

ions toward wildlife, conducting numerous focus groups and telephone surveys on the subject, and assessing the impact of various products and meth- ods to change opinions toward hunting, Responsive

At present, the game software may take 5 minutes or longer to download, depending on modem speed. Some children may not want to wait that long. It would be more accessible to the target pop- ulation if they could play it directly on the Internet.

If the prototypes are expanded, agencies will have 2 innovative products that reach and educate their young constituents. Results of the HAC proj- ect can be applied to many areas outside of the original focus. They demonstrate that if agencies make an effort to conduct market research, they can reach new constituencies that could potential- ly provide them with strong support. If agencies understand their constituents, they can develop products that will accomplish agency goals and please their constituency. Agencies should add human dimensions, public relations, marketing, and advertising personnel to their staff to assess educa- tional needs and to design products and delivery systems that will correctly address them.

The prototypes achieved the project's goal by successfully impacting a population segment through an effective marketing approach. This suc- cess can be described in the words of a 10-year-old girl in the Jacksonville, Florida, focus group:"We should buy hunting licenses even if we didn't go hunting because now we know that it helps wildlife" (Responsive Management 1996).

Acknowledgments. This project was partially funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of Federal Aid and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. We especially appreciate the assistance provided by M. Duda, D. McElveen, S. Jacobson, G. Gowan, J. Barton, and the late M. Reeff. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series Number R-07549.

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JodiA. DiCami/lo (photo) is employed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and is the national coordinator of its out- reach program entitled STEP OUTSIDE. Its goal is to increase the number of participants in traditional outdoor sports and thereby gain support for conservation. Jodi received

her undergraduate 1s,_^_ degree in political

:_ > science from Syra- E _;E e cuse University. Up-

, j_ _ on graduation, she _ - _ served as an aid to _ E iS mH _ i:F: E-:;> _ Longressman JOS-

: _ ,,:;00S,,-; v

w t Fs _ eph M. McDade in ^ -- - [t 4_1 the United States

a X s . ^

C ; _81 House ot Represen- _ XJ - tatives. Jodl is a

_ ..... iB graduate of the Uni-

__ i_

_ _ versity of Florida.

f:;f0-E-;;i- 2 She received her

:::: ] _ M.S. degree in wild- : ^ _ I if e ecology and

_ _ conservation with a concentration in the human dimensions of natural resource management. As

^ part of her thesis research, she devel-

oped a marketing plan to interest suburban children in taking a hunter education course. ez,

Associate editor: San Julian

Internet programs * DiCamillo and Schaefer 1 085