New monetary figures released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show hunters and anglers generated a little over $1 billion in 2014! Those are startling statistics compared to years past...

Mark Holyoak with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation said that funding will be distributed to state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies to support America’s conservation and recreation projects.

"We have kind of a mantra, for the lack of a better word, at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation , that 'Hunting is Conservation' and this kind of spells that out," Holyoak said. "This kind of spells that out. What it is is there were a couple of acts that were passed, one of them regarding fire arms and the other regarding fishing equipment. There are excise taxes that are accumulated, it's kept by the feds, and then distributed every year. Last year, because of hunters and anglers and those excise taxes, they generated $1.1 billion."

Holyoak said the money is then turned around and distributed out to the states. Montana alone got over 29 million dollars in funding. Holyoak added that money will be given to local fish and game agencies who will distribute it where they see fit in terms of renovations and wildlife and land management, for example.

"We at the Elk Foundation, of course we talk about maintaining our hunting heritage, but that's one of the reasons why it's important to pass it on to our kids, our grand kids, those sorts of things," Holyoak said. "They then go out in the field, they get a little older, they will need a rifle, they'll need some ammunition, and they'll spend that money and the excise taxes on that is turned around and put back on the land."

Click here to see a state-by-state breakdown of where all of the funds went nationwide.

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