SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Wildlife officials say South Dakota’s outdoor recreation economy boomed in 2020, providing much-needed sales in several business sectors as well as hopes of reversing a long-term decline in the number of licensed hunters and anglers.
The state waived entry fees and did not collect visitor information for almost two months at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Even so, state park visitation in 2020 has been roughly 31% higher than it was in 2019, said Al Nedved, deputy director of the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department’s parks division.
“It was pretty evident early on that the outdoors were going to be a place where people could exercise or just relax or whatever they like to do and do it safely,” Nedved said.
For the first time in several years, hunting and fishing license sales to state residents increased in South Dakota. Together, resident hunting and fishing license sales rose 6.7%, and roughly one-quarter of 2020 licenses were sold to hunters or anglers who had not bought a license since at least 2017, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.
Meanwhile, classes on everything from archery to plant identification have been filling up quickly when staff at the Game, Fish & Parks Department Outdoor Campus in Sioux Falls post them online, said campus director David Parker.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.