Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation Media Kit

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HOW RBFF GOT ITS START

The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) was officially established in 1998. Its story, on the other hand, began well before then.

It started in hearings and at meetings on Capitol Hill, where industry, conservation and public policy leaders were concerned that boaters and anglers were spending less and less time on the water. It appeared that many people were forgetting — or had never experienced — how recreational boating and fishing could enrich their lives. Too many states were experiencing participation declines. Too many people, it seemed, were spending more time indoors than they were on their boats.

And so, when Congress passed the Sport Fishing and Boating Safety Act in 1998, it required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to implement a national outreach and communication plan to address recreational boating and fishing participation and aquatic resource stewardship. The Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council (SFBPC) developed the plan and RBFF was created to carry it out — ensuring the legacies of boating, sport fi shing and aquatic resource stewardship are never lost.

THE RBFF PHILOSOPHY

RBFF believes that parents don’t frame pictures of their children playing video games and couples don’t reminisce about the unforgettable evenings they spent sitting in front of the TV. That’s just not how memories are made.

Boating and fishing bring families together and boost friendships. Sunny afternoons spent on the water foster the kind of conversation and contentment that strengthen relationships.

So when federal surveys suggest that Americans are abandoning their boats and fishing gear for pursuits away from nature, RBFF works that much harder to reverse the trend. Since the beginning, RBFF has existed to help Americans discover, share and protect the legacies of recreational boating and fishing, and the love of nature it inspires.