Jackson: Hard to buy state's reluctance to invest in its great outdoors

I walked along Michigan Avenue recently to shop for my wife's anniversary present.

Because I have grown a little paranoid in recent years I can't help myself when I inadvertently give a passer-by the standard up-and-down inspection.

I have no desire to be mugged or lose my wallet to a pickpocket. I just want to see and experience all the glitter generated by mega-dollars invested by the state in giving retail shops the advantage of seeing and selling to happy customers.

On the other hand, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, a new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that 101.6 million Americans - 40 percent of the U.S. population age 16 and older - participated in wildlife-related activities in 2016, such as hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching.

I would call those numbers extremely impressive. The survey illustrates gains in wildlife watching - particularly around the home - and fishing, with moderate declines in the number of hunters nationally. The report reflects an interest in engaging in the outdoors. These activities are drivers behind an economic powerhouse, one in which participants spent $156 billion - the most in the past 25 years, adjusted for inflation.

Jay Anglin, an Indiana outdoor writer and guide, told me the Indiana state legislature does everything it can to make outdoor recreation there pay off handsomely. Minnesota guide and writer Brian Brosdahl said the same for his state.

I know the Michigan Avenue tourist people are pleased as punch because the amount of greenbacks and credit card usage on the Magnificent Mile is at an all-time high. And yet the state never seems to waiver on providing funds to promote the Mag Mile.

Evanston businessman and Lake Michigan smallmouth devotee Dick Peach is dumbfounded with the attitude put forth by our state lawmakers and the unwillingness to put more hunting and fishing dollars to a good use by the state.

This newly acquired information came after officials in Washington scanned through the five-year study conducted by the Department of the Interior.

Newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke endorses a proposal that will allow more access to federal lands for fishing and hunting opportunities.

Peach calls the lack of public launch facilities and access to Lake Michigan "deplorable."

"There is a tremendous smallmouth bass population on the big lake but only a select few can reach the fish without having to take out a second mortgage," Peach told me.

So what are outdoors enthusiats supposed to do? Should we should keep reading the studies about fishing and hunting and take our dollars to neighboring states to fish and hunt, and whatever is left dump the cash on Michigan Avenue?

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.