It is the first good news wildlife managers have seen in a long time. It appears that for the first time in two decades, hunting license sales across the country may have actually increased in 2009.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, hunting license sales rose by 3.5 percent in 2009. That's according to a special survey by NSSF of 12 "index states."

Tennessee was one of 12 index states surveyed, and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials say during the 2009 calendar year hunting license sales in the Volunteer State grew approximately two percent over 2008.

Don King, TWRA's Chief of Information, said, "I'm always encouraged by any increase in this day and time. It's nice to see a little positive movement."

The 12-state index comprises states from four main regions of the United States. Nine of those states recorded hunting license sales increases from January through December of 2009 over the previous year, according to Southwick Associates, a research firm that monitored the license sales information.

"Many factors such as weather and the economy affect hunting license sales in any given year, but in 2009 the economy likely had a more significant effect," said Jim Curcuruto, NSSF's director of industry research and analysis. "While the reasons for the 3.5 percent increase are speculative, past research shows that during slowdowns in the nation's economy it is possible that people have more time to hunt and that hunters take the opportunity to fill their freezers with nutritious, high-protein meat acquired at lower cost than if a similar amount was purchased at the supermarket."

States participating in the NSSF License Sales Index are New York and New Jersey in the Northeast; Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee in the Southeast; Minnesota, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas in the Midwest; and Oregon and Utah in the West. States were selected for their ability to provide license sales data on a regular basis. The geographical selections were made to offset potential variation in license sales by region. As more states are able to provide necessary data, the number of states will be increased, said Curcuruto.

According Barry Sumners, Federal Aid Coordinator for TWRA, there were 497,398 Tennessee hunting licenses sold in 2009. Sumners points out that the number of actual hunters may be larger. That figure does not include 55,000 Lifetime License holders or 150,000 permanent Senior Citizen License holders.

Curcuruto said national hunting license sales totals from all 50 states showed little change from 2005 through 2007 (the most recent year that figures are available).

However NSSF commissioned the new survey because typically, hunting license sales data does not become available until 18 to 24 months after sales end.

"NSSF and Southwick Associates saw there was a need to work directly with states to receive data in a more timely matter," said Curcuruto.

The NSSF Hunting License Sales Index is designed to be an indicator of hunting license sales but not an exact measure of all hunting license sales nationally. Should the 3.5 percent rise hold true nationwide, it would represent one of the largest percentage increases in hunting license sales in over 20 years.

The index is a new project involving NSSF and Southwick Associates. The 2009 data was the first released in what both parties expect to be an ongoing effort. NSSF performs this type of research to better equip its member base with information that will help them make more informed business decisions.

"NSSF plans to continue funding this project in 2010," said Curcuruto.

Results are based on a weighted average of trends among participating states, so that states with larger hunter populations have a greater impact on the results than smaller states.