Wetfly gives back to the outdoors
Did you know a portion of your Wetfly purchase goes directly to help regulate and manage the outdoors you love? Yes, it’s true! (approximately 1.5%-5% MSRP, Max $10) of your Wetfly purchase goes directly to a (FET) Federal Excise Tax quarterly related to fly fishing equipment (percentage varies on different products) for products that Wetfly sells to its customers. You can learn more here: https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Field-Directive-Federal-Excise-Tax-on-the-Importation-and-Manufacture-of-Fishing-and-Archery-Products
Only imported product manufactures like Wetfly have a Federal Excise Tax mandate and these funds are captured quarterly and go directly into a federally managed fund that is intended to help and protect our way of life—the outdoors! The interesting thing is USA made products do not have any mandate to pay into this tax fund that was set up to protect our way of life. Often time’s an imported product is frowned upon compared to a USA Made product, which is interesting since the imported product is a direct contributor with actual dollars helping protect our way of life, the outdoors. Kind of weird, huh? Wetfly thinks so. Makes you think a bit differently on who is actually protecting your favorite stream or lake when you fish or hunt, doesn’t it.
Don’t get us wrong, we love USA made manufactures and have even tried to utilize some to produce Wetfly products but often times they become so cost prohibitive to our end customer which is why we do what we do. Wetfly imports products for 1 reason:
To make fly fishing easy and affordable.
Only people can enjoy the outdoor fly fishing experience if they can do it. Fly fishing historically has been an elites club—not anymore, not since Wetfly was founded in 1999.
Please help Wetfly keep your tax dollars accountable, these FET funds are set aside each year along with fishing/hunting license purchases and other related taxes to help protect the outdoors. Write your representatives, demand where your states funds are being used. Wetfly is proud to help protect the lands that we love to recreate and fish on. We need your help, please educate other manufactures of this tax as well. Since USA made products do not have to pay this tax, encourage them to donate to great programs like Trout Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and many others. Additionally Wetfly often sponsors programs through product donations to help the grass root efforts like http://www.fkfga.org/index.html and https://hermanlucernememorial.com/ among others. Please reach out to us if there is a program that you think would benefit from a Wetfly sponsorship.
History
Early conservationists, many of them avid hunters and anglers, saw the rapid decline and plight of many species in the late 1800s through the early 1900s due to unregulated market hunting and habitat loss.
Through the efforts of leaders like President Theodore Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, and the establishment of sportsmen’s organizations, they helped pave the way for today's system of science-based, regulated wildlife management (of which hunting and fishing plays an important role) to ensure sustainable wildlife resources for future generations.
Recognizing the need for funding support for professional wildlife management, some visionaries helped establish a unique partnership between sportsmen/women, industry, and federal and state agencies to establish dedicated funding sources for wildlife and fisheries conservation. This funding comes from federal excise taxes on certain equipment (such as firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing gear and boat fuel) purchased by hunters, anglers, shooters and boaters.
The funding is distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to state wildlife agencies through the Wildlife Restoration Program and Sport Fish Restoration Program on a match basis. When combined with the states' sales of hunting and fishing licenses, this cumulative funding provides the bulk of support for on-the-ground projects that benefit fish and wildlife conservation and provide hunting, angling, shooting, boating and related wildlife recreation opportunities for the public.