PHOENIX — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, is spotlighting the impact of its Partner with a Payer® (PWP) program, an initiative that brings manufacturers together with state and federal conservation leaders to show how federal excise taxes under the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson Act) become on-the-ground results for wildlife, hunters and recreational shooters nationwide. Since 1937, the program has generated over $17.7 billion (more than $29 billion when adjusted for inflation) for conservation, fueling habitat restoration, research, hunter education and public shooting ranges in all 50 states.

The latest PWP visit brought agency partners and industry leaders to the Ben Avery Shooting Facility near Phoenix, one of the largest publicly operated shooting complexes in the nation and a flagship of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Welcoming roughly 250,000 shooters each year across disciplines that range from rimfire and cowboy action shooting to precision rifle out to 1,000 yards, Ben Avery illustrates how recreational shooting has become a driving force behind modern conservation funding. In Arizona, Pittman-Robertson dollars support 11 state-owned or operated public ranges and a grant program that helps private ranges open their doors to public access, extending shooting opportunities to more than 400 facilities statewide.

As a featured manufacturer in PWP, Remington Ammunition exemplifies the industry's role in this funding model. Through PWP, agency partners and industry peers see firsthand how quarterly federal excise tax payments from manufacturers flow through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are invested by state fish and wildlife agencies, delivering measurable benefits for wildlife, habitat and public access while expanding education for the next generation of hunters and shooters.

"Here at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility, we welcome roughly 250,000 shooters through our gates every year," said Dale Case, Rifle and Pistol Range Manager at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility. "Making sure the next generation knows these facilities exist, and that there are safe places to learn, is central to everything we do."

"The Wildlife Restoration Act is a quiet giant in the world of conservation funding, reaching 56 states and territories across America," said James Burnham, Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It is remarkable to stand here at Ben Avery, a facility this comprehensive and this large, because it speaks directly to the importance of recreational shooting for conservation management."

"At Remington Ammunition, we make ammunition for the recreational shooter, and the recreational shooter is essential to the entire model of wildlife conservation funding in this country through the 11 percent excise tax," said Jon Zinnel, Director of Community Relations at Remington Ammunition. "Those dollars support not only the development of shooting ranges but wildlife conservation across the board, which is why it is so important for us as a manufacturer to engage directly with state agencies and organizations."

The Partner with a Payer framework deepens understanding across the complete conservation pathway, from manufacturers to federal excise taxes to state-level investments, by opening facility doors, encouraging dialogue with state and federal professionals and highlighting measurable outcomes. As target shooters become a growing share of the constituents who fund conservation, that transparency helps industry teams and the public see how dedicated funding translates into new and improved ranges, hunter-education programming and habitat work that people can experience in their own communities.

This initiative is supported by the NSSF and produced in collaboration with Shine United LLC / Kingdom Filmworks.