According to a 1998 Economic Impact Study completed by the Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, hunting in Maine generates $329.9 million in direct retail sales, the total househould income generated from hunting is $129.9 million and it supports 6,440 jobs statewide. The overall economic output of $453.9 million, including $27.4 million in state sales and income tax revenue.

And more people are coming to Maine to hunt. Last year, 41,581 nonresidents purchased Maine hunting licenses, the most since 1992.

Sales of hunting licenses continue to be stable, with hunting licenses sales since 1995 numbering between a low of 209,021 in 1997 and 213,984 in 2000. Last year, 212, 794 hunting licenses were sold in Maine.

Hunting License Sales for the past ten years are as follows: 1993, 223,302; 1994, 218,319; 1995, 213,129; 1996, 210,183; 1997, 209,921; 1998, 209,992; 1999, 213,752; 2000, 213,984; 2001,211,055; and 2002, 212,794.