The influence of conservation agency resources on officer entry and training requirements

The current inquiry examines the influence that agency characteristics (e.g. hunting and fishing license sales, total revenue) have on the minimum entry and training standards established by those agencies (e.g. minimum education, academy type, physical standards). Open source data were collected from each state's conservation agency through an extensive internet search and directly contacting agencies. Findings indicated a significant relationship between the number of fishing license and hunting license holders and both the minimum education standards set by the agency and their academy modality (p ≤ .05). Conversely, no significant relationships were found between revenue from license sales and any entry or training requirements. In addition, neither the number of license holders nor revenue was shown to be statistically significant among minimum physical standards for entry-level work as a conservation officer. Thus, the number of license holders appears to be more influential over the minimum education requirements and academy type versus generated revenue. This indicates that demand placed on natural resource organizations may have a greater effect than the revenue they generate.