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Burson-Marsteller A PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR UNITED CONSERVATION ALLIANCE h Buirson-Marsteller September 24, 1992'

INTRODUCTION The unobstructed right to participate in a variety of legal and licensed outdoor activities, particularly hunting, is under attack by animal rightists and other conservation groups; and the media is paying attention. A brief review of several recent reports: U.S. News & World Report, February 5, 1990 (guest columns): "The anti-hunters are invariably long on name-calling and short on scientificially based suggestions for solving complex wildlife conservation problems." George Reiger, editor, Field and Stream magazine "These bloodthirsty nuts claim they provide a service for the environment. Nonsense! A hunter goes into the woods to kill something, period." Cleveland Amory, president, Fund for Animals In America, July 5, 1992 (syndicated television program) "There's a battle underway in America, a battle over hunting. On one side the sportsmen, who say they have a legal right to their hunts. On the other, animal rights activists who say they have a moral right to try and stop them." Joe Oliver, co-anchor. "Under seige from animal demographic trends that are looking for ways to message." USA TODAY, July 16, 1992 rights activists and squeezed by threaten regroup their future, and repackage hunters their ...

-2- ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 19, 1992 "The changing face of America -- more fatherless families, increasing urbanization, declining numbers of hunters -- is jeopardizing the future of hunting. "Hunters are facing animal activists, shrinking habitat, and growi~ng numbers of people from non-hunting backgrounds who want to use wildlife refuges and other areas for hiking, bird watching or animal photography." The Rocky Mountain News, July 21, 1992 "Hunters are losing ground in the public arena. They are missing the mark when it comes to communicating with an American public that is removed from the land andpoorly educated about nature. Animal rights activists have capitalized on [that] shortcoming. 'They are much, much better than you at getting my attention,' said Roger O'Neil, environmental reporter for NBC News. 'You are first graders, and they are Harvard graduates.'" n t

-3- SITUATION Despite the fact that American hunting enthusiasts bought about 16 million hunting licenses and duck stamps last year at a cost of nearly $450 million, and the money spent on gear and travel annually pumps about $10 billion into the economy, their contributions to wildlife management and habitat restoration have been overshadowed: they have been branded as "murderers" by animal rightists and some non-hunting environmental and conservation groups. Even though every state fish and game department depends on fees from hunting and fishing licenses to fund game research and management programs and habitat improvement, a group in Arizona produced enough signatures to put a proposition on the ballot there that, if passed, would ban all licensed hunting, fishing and trapping. John Turner, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, deplores efforts to end hunting. In 1990! he is quoted as saying, "If you eliminate this constituency, you lose the greatest source of conservation revenue. You also do away with a vital cultural and historical aspect of American life." As recently as mid-July of this year, speaking at three-day symposium sponsored by Gov. Stan Stevens of Montana, Turner lamented, "I believe we in the hunting community have done a lousy job of getting the word out." ~ ~I

-4- PROFILE OF THE AMERICAN SPORTSPIAAT' who then, is the American sportsman? what is the demographic profile of the people who hunt, fish, camp, target shoot? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that: o About 9 percent of the American population hunts; 0 96 percent of them are white, mostly male; and o Live - 53' percent - in rural areas. If he (or she) is one of the 13 million readers of either Field & Stream or Outdoor Life magazine: - 0 43 percent are 18-34 years; o Has median household income of $35,000; o Drank one of every five glasses of beer poured in America; and o Bought one of every six basic large cars sold in 1991. If a member of Ducks Unlimited, he or she is politically active: 0 93.4 percent voted in federal, state or local election; 0 37.98 percent wrote to an elected official about some matter of public business; and 0 26.4 percent personally visited an elected official to express a point of view. If a-member of the National Wild Turkey Federation he:. o Lives in a small city or rural area; o Earns an average of $44,500 per year; o Hunted and fished a variety of species other than~ turkey;; and 0 Uses some form of tobacco - 53 percent.

-5- WHY SHOULD PHILIP MORRIS CARE? Because American sportsmen are your customers. It is estimated that 25-30 percent of the U.S. population smokes, with males accounting for roughly half of smoking adults. Research we have seen shows that among sportsmen, 21+, there is a much higher incidence of smoking. Following is a list, by activity, of the percentage of inen who smoke (determined as having smoked six or more packs in the seven days prior to being surveyed) and: 0 0 0 0 Hunt - 43.75 percent Target shoot - 41.3 percent Fish - 40.8 percent Camp - 40.6 percent Boat - 34.7 percent We suspect your marketing experts already know this because you advertise in the outdoor magazines. But sportsmen who are your customers are under attack on two fronts: o As hunters or fishermen who happen to smoke, they are the focus of attack by animal rightists and other conservation groups; and As smokers who happen to hunt or fish, they are under broad attack by anti-smoking activists.

COMMON GROUND: PRIVACY AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS The issues of privacy and individual rights are at the very core of the movements against hunting and smoking. But, despite the sentiment against hunting and smoking, one privacy poll indicates the public is not buying the loss of either, at least not yet. In the January 1992 NCL survey in Arizona, respondents were asked if they thought it appropriate for an employer to base a decision to hire or fire on several criteria: 0 96 percent said huntin with firearms should not be a consideration in hiring or r ng; 0 96 percent said whether an individual smoked after Fiaurs should not be a consi eration in iring or firi m9 - A recent USA TODAY poll found that: o While 80 percent of the overall national sample of adults said they thought hunting should not be banned; o Only 58 percent of those who consider themselves non-hunters believe hunting should be legal. Yet, hunting and smoking continue to be the focus of public debate, and anti-hunting and anti-smoking groups continue to receive funding and media attention. Do you want to reach the sportsmen who smoke, or the smokers who are hunters and fishermen? And if you do, what would you ask of them? What can you do in return? n

-7- THE UNITED CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: Until recently there has been no single organization whose mission, as chartered, i~s to coalesce the conservation groups, hunting-, fishing- and trapping-rights organizations, sporting goods manufacturers, the outdoor media and the biomedical commmunity to, as suggested by SPORTS AFIELD: "Finance the relentless effort required to overcome the legal, political, propagandistic and, increasingly, terroristic actions of the antihunting movement." In January of 1991, such an organization - the United Conservation Alliance (UCA) - was formed and an Interim Board appointed. A more detailed list of member-organizations and some information about each is attached. Among them, however, are the Archery Manufacturers Organization, National Field Archery Association, National Rifle Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International and Sport Fishing Institute. Outdoor publication members include Dunns, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield. Many of the members of these individual organizations are your customers. And, the outdoor publications carry your advertising messages. In June 1991, Sports Afield editor Thomas McIntyre wrote an extensive article supporting the formation of UCA. In it he wrote quite eloquently: "The growing power of the animal-rights movement, as evidenced by such glittering successes as the passage of California's antihunting 'mountain lion' initiative, has finally convinced hunting organizations and fish~ing and trapping groups that if they wish to carry on with their sport; if conservation groups still want to have sportsmen to support their proj'ects; if the outdoor media still wan:t an audience; if, ultimately, scientists want animals for research, ranchers animals to raise, pet owners animals for pets, and carnivores, even, meat to eat, then they all need to unite in opposition to the activities of the animal rightists." By January 1992, the Interim Board had abolished i~tself upon election of the fi~rst official board (see attachment ??); by mid-May an executive director, Dr. Michael Berger, was appointed. (Berger announcement release attached, ??.) UCA is a 501(',c)(3) organization.

-8- UCA's CHARTER According to Mike Berger, UCA is: "A coalition of organizations and corporations from the sporting/outdoor iindustry, media, conservation organizations and affiliated groups, as well as dedicated individuals interested in assuring the freedom to enjoy and use the outdoors and renewable resources in responsible and lawful ways." In addition to Berger's description, Article II of UCA's Bylaws states, in part, that it will: "provide a medium of cooperation through which the needs of members may be considered, or through which any necessary cooperative measures found to be outside the scope of the Alliance's activities may be initiated; provide member organizations with the information_necessary and establish an equitable process which will allow them to express positions on individual issues ... " PRESENT MEMBERSHIP: UCA's membership is open to anyone or any organization. The two main categories of membership are 1) voting - nationaL organizations contributing at least $1000, and 2) Supporting - individuals, retailers and state and local organizations.. There are currently about 35 voting members and 800 supporting members. About one-third of the voting members/organizations have contributed $I10,000 or more, with one group having contributed $40,000 with a pledge of $125,0100 more for specific programs. Media organizations (outdoor magazines) have contributed little cash, according to Berger, but have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in free advertising and publicity. We would estimate UCA's actual operating budget to be about $L75,000 to $2010,000 per year, but there is an active program underway to expand the voting member category, raise the number of $10,000 per year contributors to at least 20, and encourage more iindividual/supporting membership. Its 12-member Board consists of three members each from the following four categories: wildlife management/consexvation groups; outdoor media (hunting/fishing magazines); outdoor equipment manufacturers or associations; and, allied groups (kennel clubs, bi~omedical research, etc). Individual board members must represent "Voting" member organizations.

-9- BURSON-MARSTELLER CONTACT WITH UCA Over the past several months we have had a number of conversations with UCA's executive director, Mike Berger. While the purpose of our initial conversation and subsequent meeting with him was to explore various ways we could work together on programs or projects that could be mutually beneficial, it became clear that UCA had a number of public affairs needs that B-M is positioned to provide. we first learned of UCA's existence from Charlie Russell, managing partner of Russell, Karsh & Hagan, the Denver public relations firm we had chosen to work with Pam Inmann in her region. Russell has a close personal relationship with a number of the major members of UCA, and had in fact been asked to serve on the original UCA board. Berger made it clear that he and UCA need a full complement of publi~c relations and public affairs support, including positioning, message development, spokesperson training, newsletter design/content, outreach, media relations and mobilization. He remains interested in further discussions but he has noted that other fi~rms and corporations are beginning to offer similar assistance, and if we are to achieve everyone's goals, we must move quickly.